Wintle’s World of Angling

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 week 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 weekly column.

In early November, I discussed the possibility of a day’s fishing on the Hampshire Avon at Britford near Salisbury with Peter Jacobs. He had fished it the week before and had a few fish, including some good roach. Though the river was likely to be low due to the continuing lack of rain, I thought that if we could locate the fish then maybe we could get some sport. With a need to be mobile, I planned to travel light; just a rod made up, a tackle bag and landing net, plus casters and maggots.

Saturday dawned bright and chilly at Britford (click for bigger picture)

Saturday dawned bright and chilly, though with no frost and a pleasant day predicted, prospects were reasonable. The previous day had been stormy so the calm was welcome. I met Peter at the main car park and we made our way down river.

To our left there was the old channel that was very low, with beaches of gravel all the way down. On the right was the even-flowing main channel but it was fouled with dead blanket weed and leaves. Peter had some knowledge of this part of the river and elected to fish a potential roach swim on the main channel. I fancied a very shallow part of the nearby old course of the river where there were bow waves from a chub. There were also a few grayling rises here and there. A broad shallow narrowed into a gully where the chub were reputedly shoaled tight against a series of scrubby willows. With the river so low, much of it was only twelve to eighteen inches deep (less than half a metre in new money). I set up a Trent Trotter, pinching on a AAA and BB shot together to trap the line on a two-inch loop below the float in classic Billy Lane style, with a no. 8 shot on the short hook link. I started fishing the fast gully, feeding casters and fishing two on a size sixteen Drennan Chub hook. The float was set just ten inches deep.

The Trent Trotter

Time for a move?
Perhaps lacking confidence, I found this swim hard work, and apart from a small trout, could not tempt any response from the chub. Thirty yards above me, there was a line of reeds above the broad shallow. Peter reckoned there were grayling here, and so after half an hour I moved up and fished the broad shallow. It wasn’t long before I got a grayling of about a pound. In the fast water, it was a lively handful. Before long, a succession of small rises showed that there were a few others about. I got another six but they were only a couple of ounces apiece.

I walked up river and crossed to where Peter was fishing, spotting a couple of good grayling in a narrow channel. He was also struggling, having had a couple of tentative bites on float-fished caster. He suggested that I try further down on the main channel where Rontroversial (did I ever tell you about my experiences in South Africa?) Clay found some good chub back in September. I gave this a try with a small stick float but with sun filtering through the trees, it was hard to see the float at all. I tried another part of the old channel where I got a succession of little dace – not what we’d come for.

This area is a haven for birds. There was a pair of water rail, an egret, kingfishers, a heron, and all manner of small birds in the willow scrub. At lunchtime, Peter and I discussed prospects. One idea was to move to the top part of the fishery nearer Salisbury to see whether we could find fish there. I decided to have a quick half hour on a shallow run, changing back to a Trent Trotter, to see if I could get any more grayling. I’d just had a small one when Stuart the keeper arrived.

Mark’s swim at Britford

We explained our predicament as another angler walked down; this other angler had hammered the chub in the gully the previous day, little wonder there was nothing about. Seeing that I was travelling light, Stuart promised to put me onto some fish. We needed to move much further down the old river away from the areas that had been hammered. First, though, he moved Peter to below a cattle bridge where he reckoned he should get a chance of some roach sport. It was clear that we were not in the best area for roach, though the swims that had been producing were occupied before dawn, and had been heavily fished over the previous two weeks.

The trek
After walking several furlongs, Stuart pointed out a far bank run along some willow bushes and cress beds. It was only eighteen inches deep but held good chub. He urged me to return to it for the last hour or two before dusk. We continued on our trek, coming to another fast shallow with a slack on the far bank. He knew that the slack held good chub and perch, whilst the fast water would hold grayling. First cast in this new swim I got a cracking grayling of a pound and a half, followed by two smaller ones. Stuart reckoned that holding the float in the slack was the way to get the chub.

1lb 4oz grayling

To do this, I waded across the narrow river and held the line out of the fast water. I steadily fed red maggot and it was not long before I hooked a chub, but the line parted at the locking shot. I retackled with the same set-up and soon hooked another chub. The line parted again. Once is unlucky, twice is careless, thrice is negligent…… Remembering Dick Walker’s criticism of the original Billy Lane set-up, I retackled by threading the line through the bottom ring of the float and locked it with nice soft lead no. 10 shot. I then put a separate piece of line through the end ring and locked the AAA and BB on it. It must be that the strong pull at right angles on the hard alloy shot was cutting the line.

I got the next chub, and at 4-1, I sensed that perhaps the day would turn out all right after all. Shortly after, I got another of about two and half pounds. This one had one of my lost hook lengths in it. But all the commotion killed the swim apart from another grayling over a pound. It was time to move back up river to finish off in the other glide.

Mark’s 4lb 2oz chub

The Grand Finale
This final swim proved much easier to fish than those that I tried earlier, having a steadier flow. It was simple to cast the Trent Trotter across to the far bank cress beds and keep it running down in a straight line. Maggots brought minnows in this slower water so I stuck to double caster on a Drennan Carbon Chub size eighteen.

The first bite came quickly; another chub. After a controlled strike, I pulled hard sideways, not giving line at all and gaining line as quickly as possible. I didn’t let the chub get into the cress or willow roots. I was using a Shimano Stradic 1000 reel today. The line roller made it easy to crank the fish in under pressure when required. This chub was slightly bigger than my first at 4-2, and was followed by another grayling of nearly a pound. It was a pleasure to catch these beautiful fish. As the light started to fade, the chub finally gained confidence and I landed another three. Two were about three pounds and the other was a cracker of 4-8. As the sky turned crimson over Britford church, I trudged back to the car park.

The Avon at Salisbury (click for bigger picture)

Peter, having a shorter walk, was waiting. He’d finally got two decent roach of about twelve ounces in successive casters on caster, using an open-ended feeder with ground hemp. Though a little disappointed with his catch he agreed it had been a challenging day. I’d learnt a lot about fishing Trent Trotters. Walker’s rig does the job though it was prone to the odd tangle (easily sorted out with such a simple rig).

This water holds some fine fish. Like many day ticket stretches of the Avon it is heavily fished so don’t expect easy fishing. I enjoyed a rewarding day in wonderful surroundings (try to ignore the sewage farm). Be aware that there may be LAA competitions on Sundays.

A final word about grayling. These wonderful fish don’t deserve to be retained in keepnets – simply release them as you catch them.

Next week: ‘Quivertipping for Roach’