Welcome to my fishing blog… July 2022

July 10th – River Avon, Chequers, Hanham

Well, I haven’t fished this stretch of river in over 20 years. Our RBL club used to fish here regularly until the venue was taken over by a carp syndicate. It has now fallen into the hands of a new fishing club (Chequers Angling Club) and is available once more for matches. I have had my best ever day fishing on this stretch. Many years ago, I had a pleasure session here on the last Sunday of the season and caught 32 bream, each one over 4lb. I could have caught a lot more but my 10-foot keepnet was almost overflowing and it wasn’t fair to keep so many fish captive in such a small net so I let them go and packed up. It was just one of those ‘red letter’ days where I couldn’t go wrong. I don’t expect I’ll ever have a day like it again as long as I live.

So, today we had a Kingswood Legion club match, with 12 anglers in attendance. Everyone was expecting bream but the very hot sunny weather together with a low, clear and slow-moving river meant it would prove disappointing for some.  Undeterred, everyone coughed up their fees and we got the draw underway. A big plus was being able to drive right up behind your peg on this venue, which was perfect for me as my back had been playing up something chronic just lately. I drew peg 11, which I was happy with, and I had Leigh Wakefield for company on end peg 12. Leigh’s no slouch on the river so I had to ensure I kept an eye on him.

With the river running low and clear and with very little flow, a little finesse was called for today. So, no balling it in, just a couple of small feeders of groundbait would be needed to kick-start the session. My plan was to fish about three-quarters the way across just off the end of an overhanging tree. If the bream didn’t show I thought I might latch onto a nice chub. There wasn’t much flow down the middle either so I ignored that area, which might have been a big mistake in hindsight. My other line would be at around 5 metres, just off the edge of a tree to my right-hand side. I would feed this line with maggots steadily throughout the day.

At the all-in I lobbed out a cage feeder packed with casters and 50/50 Sonubaits Black River and Super Crumb Black Bream groundbait. Bait was 3 red maggots to a size 16 Guru LWGF microbarb hook. My first fish was a small chub about 6 ounces, followed by a couple more of the same stamp. Not exactly the quarry I was hoping for. I persevered on this line for 2 hours without any sign of a bream. Next, I tried trotting a Crowquill Avon right in front of the line of trees opposite, loose-feeding maggots in the hope of drawing out a chub or two but no luck there either.

So, with not much happening over the far side, I decided to try my short line. The depth here was 10 feet, so I first tried the pole, fishing at 6 feet deep. I got hammered by bleak in the first 15 minutes so changed tactics. I set the Crowquill Avon float on my Shimano Aero X5 float rod to 8 feet deep, bulking the shot just 12 inches from the hook. Fishing with single and double maggot on a size 18 Guru LWGF micro-barb, I caught small perch and chub steadily for about an hour. Every half hour I tried the feeder line again for 2 casts, just in case but there wasn’t going to be any bream for me today.

Away from my peg and further downstream, it was absolute pandemonium. The hot weather had brought out a whole myriad of loonies and assholes who were paddle boarding, canoeing, swimming, barbecuing and parading around topless, and yes I mean the women! Pic-nickers were everywhere. The problem with this stretch of river, especially during the summer, is its location. There are 2 very popular pubs right on the bank. So, a lesson learned there me thinks.

So, the match was won by Ian Swanborough, an RBL veteran who finished up with over 12lbs including a couple of bream. Leigh, who was pegged on my left was a close second with 11lbs odd. I ended up with just over 4lbs and managed to win the section by default. Because it was such a hot day, I and a couple of others persuaded each other to have a cold pint or two… just to cool off. It just had to be done!

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January 2023

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June 2022

July 2022

   3rd – Whitehouse Farm, Earthcott Green

   10th – RBL Club Match, Chequers, Hanham

   24th – Whitehouse Farm, Earthcott Green

August 2022

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December 2022

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