Sunday 14^th September – Bristol Avon, Barton Farm, Bradford-on-Avon – Go Bream Or Go Home…

I was quite looking forward to this match on the river with my Kingswood RBL club mates, despite there being only 8 of us. Other club members were either on holiday or unavailable for other reasons, although I suspect the weather conditions might have been a deciding factor. After a quick look at the river before the draw, I was a little surprised at how clear the water was despite all the rain we have had in recent days. I should have had a look at my local stretch of river the day before because that would have given me a different perspective on how I was going to approach my fishing today. A lesson learned there. So, we chose to put all the pegs in the sewer field section, which is generally the best area for quality fish, especially bream.

The last time we had a match on this section was in February, when I won with over 18lbs of chub and bream. The noted peg on this section is just above the area where a stream runs into the river. This peg has thrown up some good bream weights over the years and today it was peg 3. However, I drew peg 6, which was way up the field and one that I hadn’t fished before. When I got to my peg, I had to clear some small trees, which were growing behind me, so that I didn’t snag on them when casting. Then, after another closer look at the river, I wished I had made my groundbait a little darker. It consisted of Dark River and brown crumb, but I think probably too much crumb for such a clear river. Otherwise, my bait offerings were maggles, both dead and alive, worms, bread, sweetcorn and tares.

I had already made up my mind that for me it was going to be a bream or bust day. I reckoned I would only need one or maybe 2 fish to frame, so I set up a feeder rod for the groundbait feeder and a straight leger rig on another rod. I also set up a Crowquill Avon float rod, which I could use at various depths all over the swim. The weather forecast was for rain and strong winds and although we did get some rain after midday, it wasn’t too heavy and the wind was quite manageable. I guess we were quite sheltered in Bradford-on-Avon and missed the worst of the weather, which seemed to hit the South West coastal area worse. Anyway, on the all-in, I lobbed out a bomb with bread on the hook. I gave that 30 minutes without so much as a sniff. Next, out went the groundbait feeder.

I picked a spot just over halfway across the river and focused on it for the next 3 hours with maggles on the hook, worm and double worm, worm and maggle, sweetcorn, corn and worm. All the time, I was also loose feeding tares down my right-hand edge just below some overhanging elderberry bushes. Well, the only bait I could get bites on at all were maggles and the only fish I was catching were small 1-2 ounce roach. After about 90 minutes, I began getting a bite a chuck, although I was missing most of them and then I thought I had finally hooked a chub, but it turned out to be a pike of around 3lbs. The roach was still in its mouth when I netted it and I had to prise it out. Then, about 30 minutes later, I had another pike about the same size. This one had my hook buried in the side of its mouth. It could have even been the same pike, as it was identical in size.

After that, there was a long, quiet spell and then I began catching roach again, but bites were lightning fast. There’s no doubt the fish were spooked and an hour later, I began losing fish off the hook. The culprit was landed some time later and turned out to be another pike of around 2lbs. This was another one that didn’t want to give up its prize. It was a really long and slender killing machine. Well, after more than 3 hours in, I’ve got less than a pound of fish in the net. I didn’t think for one moment it was ever going to be as tough as it was. A look down my right-hand edge on tares produced nothing despite loose feeding for 3 hours. The Crowquill up in the water and down the middle was hopeless and only resulted in a few bleak that ragged the bait on every cast.

So for the last 90 minutes, I changed to a maggle feeder and fished at two-thirds the way across the river. Again, it was only small roach that showed any interest and then the odd one lost to pike. It was a very frustrating day and as stubborn as I was with the groundbait feeder, one bream would have changed everything. Well, it was not to be and I finished up with an embarrassing 1-7-0 for 7^th on the day. I still can’t believe it and it was defo one of my worst days ever on the river at Bradford. Well done to Jason, who won the match quite convincingly with 5-7-0 of mainly small roach, all caught on the pole. A big thanks to Alan who is still carrying me in the Pairs Challenge. Well, we won’t be back on this venue until February 2026, when I will have my revenge!

So, my run of bad luck continues. Nevermind… I’ll be fishing the Costcutter at Windmill Fisheries on Thursday. Hmmm… wonder how I’ll get on… LOL. Keep you posted!

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