Sunday 22^nd June – Kingswood RBL Club Match – River Avon Crane Section, Keynsham – A Slow Start To The New River Season

No midweek match for me again this week as I have been trying to give my poor old back time to recover. So, I was really looking forward to the club match on the Bristol Avon on Sunday. However, the turnout was a little disappointing with just 9 anglers available to fish due to holibobs, health, fear and general apathy. The river conditions were far from perfect too, with the water level down, clear water and virtually no flow. A strong gusty wind didn’t help either, but despite all that, everyone was still feeling a bit chipper. There was plenty of chit-chat, predominantly all about whether bream would feature in the resulting weights. Well, with conditions as they were, I wasn’t too sure about that and so I was considering all options.

Traditionally, in these matches, the higher peg numbers produce the better weights, especially if bream are expected to put in an appearance. So pegs 7, 8 and 9 were the favourites today. Well, just my luck, I thought, as I drew lowly peg 1. At least I would have a very short walk, which with my back problem as it is at the mo, is probably just as well. Now the man who had been doing most of the bream talk was Jason, who just happened to be drawn on peg 2. Despite both of us being drawn on early pegs, we were still determined to find a bream of two if we could. First, we compared groundbaits and then hookbaits and then methods. So, it turns out we were both going to try the same tactics today and see what happens. A quid was riding on the outcome, so we had to get it right… LOL!

Well, I wanted to keep everything easy and simple today, so I left the pole at home and brought 2 feeder rods, 2 float rods and a 4.5 metre whip with me. I decided on a large open end feeder initially, so I could get a lot of feed down in the shortest time. My peg was very deep with a 17 feet deep hole just off centre, but my plan was to fish about two thirds across, which was more like 12-13 feet deep and the only area where I could see a little surface movement. Groundbait choice was 20% Dynamite F1 Sweet, 40% Sonubaits Worm Fishmeal and 40% Dynamite Brown Crumb. This was laced with chopped worm, dead reds and casters. I also opted for a 6 BB waggler setup, but as the day progressed and the wind got stronger, the waggler didn’t get a look in. Finally, I had set up a 4.5 metre whip as my “get out of jail” card.

On the all-in, I lobbed out 12 full feeders of groundbait, and Jason did a similar pre-bait. I kept the large feeder on and intended to change to a smaller one later if necessary. I started with 3 bronze maggles to a size 14 hook tied to a 0.13 hooklength. After 2 or 3 casts, I noticed my bait was getting rattled by bleak from the moment it hit the water. This happened on every cast, but it wasn’t causing any serious damage to the bait, so I wasn’t too worried. My first fish was a small dace and then a small chublet soon followed. I began changing baits and trying different combinations to see if this would attract a bigger fish. Caster and maggle, worm and caster, worm and maggle, caster and maggle and even bread, but it was 3 bronze maggles that did the trick, eventually enticing a skimbo of around 2 lbs.  

So, I carried on with this, but it was becoming obvious that there were no bream in the swim, or they just weren’t feeding. Jason had only caught a small perch by this time, so I thought it best to try and get a few small fish in the net in case it was the same situation all along the river. I began loose feeding caster at around 5 metres and this brought a lot of small fish to the surface. Then with a single bronze maggle on the hook, I began catching a fish a chuck at around 3 feet deep. I was using a .75-gram Benwick Silverlite float at first, but as the wind got stronger, I changed to a 1-gram insert waggler, which allowed me to cast more accurately and sink the line. This offered a better presentation and striking was much more positive. I didn’t miss many bites but inevitably had a few fish fall off the hook when swinging them in.

Well, as expected, bleak were first on the scene, but some of these were quite big, nudging 2 ounces in some cases. Then the dace arrived but were soon pushed out by chublets and a couple of those were 4-ouncers. So, I must have had over 4lbs of small fish in 90 minutes, which makes you wonder… what if. Anyway, as Jason was still lobbing out the feeder, I reckoned he had quietly caught a bream or two, otherwise why would he still be on the feeder? I wasn’t able to see him, but I could see what he was doing and so with 20 minutes left, I thought maybe I should have one last chuck with the pig and see if anything had turned up. So out went the feeder…

It hadn’t long settled when I had a drop back bite and I was soon into another skimbo. This one was a bit smaller than the first one at around a pound and a half. Then on the next chuck I had another drop back but missed it. So out went the pig once more and the tip shot right round courtesy of a chub of about 6 ounces. Then came the all-out shout and it was game over. Jason was admitting to 2 skimbos and a small perch, but as he’s usually quite economical with the truth, I just wasn’t buying it. He has a reputation for telling porkies. I reckoned I had about 7 pounds but was admitting to four and a half… well, you do, don’t you? It’s better to under-estimate than look like a plonker by over exaggerating. It’s all mind games anyway! Then came the looooong wait. As everyone was so spread out, it seemed to take an age for the scales to get to us and then finally Jon Amato emerged from way beyond the horizon.

Jon had weighed 7-11-0 and told us he had caught on the whip for most of the day. Finally, the rest of the troop appeared and word had it that Leigh “Longshanks” Wakefield had weighed 9lbs. And then what a shock… Jason had been telling the truth all along, with 2 skimbos and a perch for his efforts. Now, all eyes were on me as I lifted my net from the water. Don’t you just love it when you hear all that splashing going on, even if it is only from a mixed bag of small fish. Well, my catch went 8lb dead, which put me in second place. I was well happy with that on what turned out to be a very disappointing day for many. Only Leigh was able to find a proper bream and at 3-14-0, it was quite a small one at that. Well, good points on the board and some wonga in the pocket, so not a bad start for my first river match of the season. It’s all downhill from here, I expect! 

Well, it’s back to Margaret’s Lake at Whitehouse Farm next Sunday for another match with the Alcove crew, but not before I attend to some unfinished business. Yes, it’s Windmill again for me next Thursday… Keep you posted!

NOTE: If reading this blog on a PC, you can enlarge the images by right-clicking on them and selecting “Open link in new window”

If you enjoyed reading this blog, then be sure to join the Fish Wag Facebook group HERE for blog updates. Also, please Like and Share… It’s very much appreciated! Check out the links to my older blog posts below…