Weight – 9lb 12oz
Catch – 6 Chub, 6 Roach, 6 Dace, 1 Pike
Weather – Frosty start. Sunny all day, very clear river
With the thawing weather I fancied a trip to Lands End for the Christmas match, but I left it too late. Speaking to Mike he was fully booked and there was still plenty of ice around, with lake 3 (Johns Water) still quite thick. So to plan B. There was a match at Barton Farm, but that was also fully booked with 54 anglers, due to many lakes still having lids on.
So rather than stay at home, I decided on a trip to the river at Reybridge. I haven’t fished here for a few years, but it is usually good for a few fish particularly chub and I fancied catching a proper river chub, instead of those long flabby stillwater ones. In fact I caught my PB of 4-13 from here, plus 2 other 4lb+ chub.
The overnight weather was colder than expected, so more frost, but when I arrived at the river I was greeted by a kingfisher as it flashed past low to the river.
I settled on a swim that I have fished regularly, with a 5ft deep glide down to a partially sunken tree. 2nd cast on the lead & bread and a 1lb+ chub was landed. At least I avoided a blank. Another hour went by, but no further bites. I had trickled in hemp & caster, trying the stick & maggot, but I couldn’t get a bite on that either and usually there are plenty of smaller fish around.
The rest of the day I tried a couple of different swims, without success. With the very bright conditions and a very clear river it was proving very hard. There were a couple of other anglers on the bank and they were all saying the say thing, with 2lb being the biggest chub landed so far.
With the day drawing to a close I still only had the 1 chub and decided to give my original swim another try. The swim was now sheltered from the sun and I was hopefully of at least 1 more chub before the day finished. As I was getting myself comfortable I noticed a fish top in the back eddy on the other side of the river (its only 13m wide). I had planed to dismantle my stick rig, whilst fishing the lead, but was now glad I didn’t, because 1st cast into the back eddy and the float sank straight away and I had a 3oz roach. Next cast, I had a chublet. It was like flicking a switch, I got a bite almost every cast either in the back eddy or trotting down the swim. I periodically tried the lead towards the sunken tree and it was obvious there was a number of small fish around. I struck at 1 bite, felt a small fish on the end, before it almost immediately went solid. It had to be a pike and the question was where had I hooked it? Fortunately it was under the chin and at 5-11 it was a new PB, beating my previous best by nearly a pound.
I continued to catch until I could hardly see the float and my last fish was a 1lb plus chub on the stick. The only disappointment was losing a very big roach at the net. Regardless, those last 90mins were really enjoyable and I’m glad I decided not to leave early.
A text from Mark revealed that Barton Farm fished very hard with 14lb winning, but Mark only needed 5-14 to finish 6th out of 54. 1 section blanked, whilst another was won with ½oz.
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