| MARK WINTLE |
| Mark Wintle, an angler for thirty-five years, is on a quest to discover and bring to you the magic of fishing. Previously heavily involved with match fishing he now fishes for the sheer fun of it. With an open and enquiring mind, each month Mark will bring to you articles on fishing different rivers, different methods and what makes rivers, and occasionally stillwaters, tick. Add to this a mixed bag of articles on catching big fish, tackle design, angling politics and a few surprises. Are you stuck in a rut fishing the same swim every week? Do you dare to try something different and see a whole new world of angling open up? Yes? Then read Mark Wintle’s regular column. |
| My Aims It’s all too easy to get stuck in a rut fishing the same waters, even the same swim, week in week out, so I’m going to try to get on a different river each month, including some that I’ve never fished before. I’ll certainly need to do my homework. So far, possibilities include the Kennet, Thames, Bristol Avon, Hants. Avon, Dorset Stour, Dorset Frome, Brue, Parrett, Windrush, Great Ouse, Test, Evenlode, Wye and Somerset Frome. I also want to try out a different method each month. These will be mainly river based though not entirely so, and will include trying for a variety of different species. Just finding out what to do, what gear, bait, and the little wrinkles that (might) make it work should prove challenging. At least two local experts have agreed to help me learn some new skills. My final theme is very much a mixed bag on whatever topic happens along. Could be tackle design, angling politics – who knows? Within that I’m also going to include some attempts to catch a big fish of different species, nothing that will threaten the record list, just decent fish that bring a smile to my face. I shall be pleased to break a personal best. Again mainly river based, and again for a variety of species, though I do fancy trying for one or two good stillwater fish. To help me do this I want to enlist the help of a number of other anglers to assist in the travelling, photography and expertise. From time to time I will ask for help on venues, and this is where I hope FISHINGmagic members can provide information on permits, conditions and likely spots, or even join in a days fishing. Living in Dorset (South of Calais, believe it or not, no euros only groats) there are limits to how far afield I will get this year but I am hoping to get as far as the South Midlands. I am certainly looking forward to getting out there a lot, catching some good fish, meeting plenty of other anglers and bringing you the MAGIC of fishing. Anyhow, here’s the first article in this new and regular column.
Part of the magic of fishing is trying to understand what’s going on in our waters by looking at river life itself. Though I shall use those famous rivers, the Dorset Stour and Hampshire Avon, as the main examples, I’m going to tie in what is happening on other rivers along the way. By this means I can explain the effects of dredging, weed, flood, abstraction, predation, drought, river character and changes to fish populations, such that each topic can be related to your local rivers. In this first article I shall stick with these two rivers and explain some of the similarities and differences between them. Close together but are they alike? Because these two rivers are often spoken of in the same sentence and referred to as chalk streams, there is often the assumption that they are very alike. There certainly are similarities but there are differences too. The two rivers are of similar size though the Avon has a more powerful and consistent flow and a larger catchment area. Both have spring-fed tributaries from the chalk downs of Dorset and Wiltshire, and it is these that contribute to the fertility of the rivers by making the water alkaline and lime rich. And, of course, both are noted for the tremendous quality and quantity of specimen fish that they have produced over the years. As for record fish, the Stour still holds the roach record, and the Avon has held the chub and barbel records at one time or another, not forgetting record size grayling from the Wylye and Allen. For the coarse angler the two most famous fisheries are Throop on the Stour and the Royalty on the Avon. The Avon Let’s look at each in more detail starting with the Avon. The Avon rises near Pewsey in Wiltshire and enters the sea near Christchurch at Mudeford with a length of about seventy miles. Above Salisbury the Avon is a shallow and gravelly trout stream, made famous by Oliver Kite and Frank Sawyer. At Salisbury a transformation takes place as several other rivers, the Nadder, the Wylye, the Ebble and the Bourne, join the Avon. Suddenly you have a much deeper and wider river that changes little in size until it reaches the sea. After Salisbury there is just one small chalk stream and some acidic streams from the New Forest joining the main river. On the way to the sea the Avon passes such famous fishing towns as Downton, Fordingbridge and Ringwood before entering Christchurch Harbour jointly with the Stour. The Avon valley contains the relics of the water meadow system. By building carriers and sluices the farmers flooded the water meadows in the spring to get a frost-free early grass crop for the sheep. These carriers have mostly fallen into disuse and been lost but where they have been maintained they provide a valuable shelter for coarse fish.
The Stour Contrast this with the Dorset Stour. The Dorset Stour has less chalk stream tributaries and more clay vale brooks. Although these brooks continue to run during the summer their flow is much diminished, and consequently the Stour can become very low, clear and sluggish by late summer. During the winter months the rain tends to run off the clay much more than the chalk so the Stour rises quickly and colours considerably. There is a difference in the fall of the two rivers; the Avon falling more than the Stour and having a more even fall. A series of mills hold up the Stour, especially above Blandford, and it is these pounded stretches, characterised by water lilies, that provide the deep slow roach water of the upper river. Further downstream there are fewer weirs and so the character of the river changes to include more streamy shallow water with streamer weed. It has been said that the Avon is harder work to fish than the Stour but it is not necessarily more difficult to catch the fish in the Avon. Don’t be afraid of weed Both rivers are incredibly weedy. Many stretches are actually all but unfishable until the late autumn floods have shifted almost all of it. Many a newcomer to these rivers during the summer is daunted by the weed and tries to find a weed-free stretch, regrettably often fish-free. The secret is to find the fish in the weed and adapt your tactics accordingly. The upper reaches of the Stour in summer have heavily overgrown banks as well so you will need to develop immunity to stinging nettles. A recent change to these two rivers is an early season brown colouration caused by algae and microscopic creatures called diatoms. By July the water usually clears. This is a comparatively recent development, and is possibly caused by excess nitrates and phosphates. Whatever does cause it; it certainly makes early summer fish-spotting a frustrating business. By mid summer the rivers are usually very clear, and it is not until the autumn rains that colour returns to the water. Both rivers fish much better when fining down after rain rather than the milky tea of floodwater. This is especially true for chub, roach and dace though the hardy angler may tempt barbel in flood conditions. Certainly the rare event of summer flooding sufficient to shift the muck and get some colour in the water makes the barbel ravenous. During winter both rivers run clear after a period without rain, sometimes causing the fish to feed very late in day or into darkness. What fish are found? In a later article I shall look at the fish populations in much greater detail but to give a flavour of what can be found let’s start with the Avon. In its upper reaches and tributaries it is mostly preserved for brown trout, though there are some large grayling and pockets of chub, roach and dace. From Salisbury downstream chub are widespread and barbel increasingly found. The days of dace shoals running into thousands are long gone but localised smaller shoals remain. Some of the dace are of a very good size. The roach tend to be in pockets nowadays with a few (and rare) monsters such as John Levell’s 2002, 3lb 12oz fish dotted here and there. Good bream to near double figures, big perch and carp are surprises that may show anywhere. The stronghold of the barbel is from Ibsley, above Ringwood down to Christchurch. Barbel to become more widespread in the Stour? The Stour has far more small fish than the Avon though the reaches from Blandford down to Wimborne are a tough proposition. Above Blandford the mixture of long, deep, slow stretches interspersed with more natural shallow runs and bends hold a variety of roach, perch, dace and chub, together with pike, gudgeon, eels and the occasional tench and bream. Below Blandford the water is generally shallower but the same mix applies. It is in the lower reaches that chub have reached such tremendous size in recent years. Barbel are found from the top of the tidal reaches near Iford up to Wimborne. Recent stockings are attempting to establish them above Blandford though it is too early to say if they will succeed. Two other species found lower down are bleak and silver bream. In the tidal reaches the fools’ chub, commonly known as grey mullet, show in increasing numbers. Plenty of opportunities to fish Those wishing to fish either river are surprisingly well catered for. Although there are private syndicate stretches, balancing this there are stretches of free water on the Stour near Bournemouth and a number of day ticket options on both rivers. Add to this the number of large clubs with open membership such Christchurch AC, Ringwood DAA, Wimborne AC, Salisbury DAC, all with extensive holdings, plus the smaller clubs such as Downton, Blandford, Dorchester, Durweston, Sturminster and Gillingham, and it should be plain that the keen angler has no shortage of access. For more information, day tickets and permits contact the tackle shops in Salisbury, Ringwood (Avon Angling), Christchurch (Davis Tackle), Moordown (Bournemouth Fishing Lodge), Oakdale, Poole (Wessex Angling) and Blandford (Conyers). Look in FM’s ‘In my swim’ section under ‘shops’ to find these. |
