Sunday 30 November 2008

Jack Frost

What a change a few degree's can make
all the swims and glides of the river are
the same , but seeing them coated in frost
makes them different and quite beautiful .
I fished the river a few weeks back on quite
a warm day but the rain had been falling
most of the week and the river was a few
feet up this made for a hard day . It was
the first time Pete had fished the beat and
he was rewarded with a little Grayling .

Today was different I opened the curtains and Scarlett
said it had snowed ? Logan ran to the window I told
them Jack Frost had been out and it looked cold ,
would it be too cold to stop two mad men fishing
Mike soon rested any fears that he is not less
bonkers than me when he rang to say he was on his
way .
A quick cupper and we were off for some bait .
We finally arrived at the river after a few traffic
problems of one kind or another.
Mike said he would not be wading much!!
We stopped at the first glide and and two
minutes later Mike was half way across the
river , you just have too it sort of draws you
in the river , even if your freezing .
I got the first couple of bites but they dropped
off a small Grayling followed and Mike had a decent
out of season Trout . We split up for the next few
hours both of us having little luck.

A new pool which I have walked past a few times
brought me a couple of very cold Trout.
It was now getting really cold the frost was deepening
and I decided to have another move to deeper water.
Looking through another blog it seems the
spiders are as cold as I was !!
The deeper water brought me a few fish a
couple of Chub and a Grayling to finish ,
Mike packed up his line froze to his
rod rings . At this point my line was froze my
centrepin seized and I lost a better fish which I think
was a Grayling .
I like to think the river does the ''lose a decent
fish thing'' to bring me back and keep me keen
although it may be wishful thinking it makes
me happy.

Sunday 9 November 2008

Bloom-in Freezing

I'm sat here now just writing up the days events
and I've just about thawed out ! To say the day
was wet and cold would not do it credit ...........
...it was much worse .
The rain last night had me wandering if our trip
to the Dane would go ahead ? Although a
small river she rises quick but the water can
run off even quicker . The trick seems to have
been over the years to catch the water thinning
down , this means that both the fresh water and
sediment that it carries are settling down ,the
little colour seems to disguise the line and the
fish are on the look out for food after fighting
the colder fast water . I think this was starting
to happen but then the rain came and the river
started to rise not very good .
I lost a couple of fish from a swim last visit and
with the water slightly up I knew the spot would
have some fish waiting for me today .
A change in tactics , I normally scale down
the wall and fish past a large tree which
is partly in the water . The good points
; the tree is a good hiding place for
both Chub and Barbel also even though
a good strong glide runs past for some
20m or so just in behind lies some slower
water ,this is a ideal place for Roach
and for all fish to retreat to in flood .
Bad points ; as you hook any fish it as to
come back past the snagy roots you can
guess the rest ! also that wall is not very
high but slippy when wet .
So today I stayed on top my idea to run
down stream and pull the fish away from
any underwater dangers .
I was soon into small Chub and then a
better one slipped the hook.
Finally I was into a large fish or it was
into me after going up and down the glide
several times it decided to run downstream
50 yards later I past Phil with the fish taking
me for a walk deeper water lay ahead so
something had to give the hooked pinged!
I took several Chub on a hard day when
most seemed to struggle ,the photo
at the top being around the best
(thanks to Phil) a in depth Chub
artical can be found on his blog
http://fishingaddict-phil-k.blogspot.com/
Well worth a look and a good read
We made an early return home both very
wet and cold a good dry week is needed
before my next outing , a bit of fly tying
will make the time pass easier .

Sunday 2 November 2008

Cold Day Warm Glow

Well winter arrived this week , the clocks moved
and the days became short and cold even a bit of
snow.
But you cant not go on the river can you?
So Phil , Mike and myself decided the
Ribble would be worth a cast or two.

Even in the cold a Grayling is always willing
to feed and this was very much on our minds
today.
As we arrived the weather was milder than on
the previous few days even so I put two pair of
waders on and wrapped up warm.
The first place we tried did not bring much
Phil taking a little Grayling on his new Hardy
rod.


I fancied a glide and mentioned to Phil on our way
past we should give it a try ,I had a few fish
mostly Trout out of season but a nice Grayling
just over a pound was a good result.



Phil moved to his favourite spot taking a few Trout
and a lovly grayling pictured below .



It's unavoidable catching the odd Trout a
quick snap and return .


While Phil was having fun with his new rod I
took Mike to a spot Ilike for Chub , he was
soon trotting the float and into a fish and just
as predicted a Chub of around 2lb was soon in
the net . Almost imedeatly he was in again
this one better over 3lb it slipped back before
we got it's picture .
One last cast in Phils glide saw Mike finish with
a lovly little SeaTrout .

Another ver nice day on the river with
good company a cold day that left me
with a warm glow !






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"Life is but a dream?"

"... on a good day of fishing, the job, the noise and clutter ... fade away until there is only water and the rhythm of the rod and, now and then, a fish."

-Random Phrump

''A Thought''

A simple philosophy I have adopted over the years has been tested and re-enforced in the past few weeks. It is to celebrate those good and pleasing things encountered in daily life, no matter how small, with at least the same vigour as I bemoan the bad or merely vexing.
-Steve Dobson


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