It’s not really a big issue for me, the ending of the rivers season, but there is that wanting to get as much in as possible before it shuts down for three months.
I had written to everyone in our group to see if they wanted a bit of a barbeque and to meet up for a final fish-in, but in light of recent weathers that we’ve been having it was hardly surprising that no one wanted to bother. Only Frank Guttfield (anyone that can remember him must be over 60!) showed interest in a gathering of some sort, but with the lack of interest from anyone else, plans to have a barbeque were scuppered.
I met Frank on the Thursday previous, he was fishing his usual swim after that elusive 8lbs chub, I was chucking a few lures around for a 20lbs pike, some hope! He approached me from his swim and asked could I take a few photographs of his 6 -4 chub, not quite the 8 pounder, but a lovely fish all the same. He’s had an amazing amount of 6+ chub this year, not to mention many bream over 8lbs – yes, NOT TO MENTION them, he doesn’t particularly appreciate them.
Pictures taken and I’m thinking it would be nice to put my mate Colin in that swim tomorrow (Friday) seeing as he hasn’t yet caught a chub at all. I know Frank has to go to the vets with the cat so he won’t be fishing in the morning so that’s what we do. I met Colin around 10:30 am and we got into that swim; I showed him the rig to use and we got fishing.
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| Colin, when we get it a bit right |
Then I had a phone call from Frank, “Swim stealer!” were his chosen words followed by “You need to be a ‘living legend’ to catch a chub from there.” His words came true, the ones about blanking, not the swim stealer bit; I mean, first come – first served, isn’t it? Anyway, after a while we moved upstream to try for a barbel and what do you know? Yes, we blanked again.
With profound apologies to Colin for having yet another fruitless day at our fishery, we decided to leave it. However, Saturday was so beautiful weather-wise that I couldn’t resist having another go, but then my mind was about to be changed. Frank rang me from ‘his’ swim and said how it wasn’t doing anything and he would try in the meadow (one of his other recent haunts) later.
Now what to do? I grabbed my jerkbaits and a couple of casting rods, but then I remembered I had some deadbaits still in the freezer. Quickly, I gathered them together with the Greys Boat rod (10’6″ pike rod), a reel and my small bag of pike fishing gear and with all of that set off.
I flogged the water with the jerkbaits for a couple of hours with no joy whatsoever. Just one tiny jack no bigger than the lure it seemed followed at one stage, but then must have got frightened at the thought of taking on something bigger than him. So they went away and out came the Greys Boat Rod, fishing from the bank (I did say in my review it would be good for this), together with a float and the Prowla Fledger Boom contraption topped off with a nice smelly whole herring.
I had to keep casting every 5-10 minutes in the current, but after 40 minutes I went to have a word with Roger Wyndham Barnes who’d just come back with two clients on his boat. They had 5 pike, best going to 9lbs, so were quite pleased, but no reports of fish from around my area. Back to the rod, cast in again, same area just about 12-15 feet out is deep water of around 8-9 feet.
Ten minutes passes, Roger’s just set off in his car and my float starts to move a little upstream. I watch closely to make sure that was what I saw and not an illusion caused by the moving current, but no, it was on the go. I strike and felt quite a weight on the end, I was still fearful that the bait might just have snagged on some of last year’s crowfoot that might have wafted back in the current, but no, fish on!
I must have spent more time trying to get the fish into the net than I did fighting it, but managed it and once on the bank realised it was a good female. I didn’t have scales with me (something I am going to rectifying in future) and instead measured it at 35 inches and guessed that she was around 15lbs. Only lightly hooked in the scissors she was easily freed using fingers only (don’t try this if you’re new to pike fishing), picture taken after she remained still for a moment, and she was soon released.
That was it and Sunday I took a deserved rest.
Well, closing day dawned and once more Frank phoned me, already fishing from ‘his’ swim, but not producing anything. He would be fishing the meadow later, then going over to Wallingford and meeting with Barry and Tony, going for a curry then spending that last hour or two back at ‘his’ swim. Well that was another plan shot to pieces as he didn’t go to Wallingford and instead stayed at the meadow and joining me (I wasn’t in ‘his’ swim) later.
The rig – a Fox feeder like a bucket, John Roberts Anti-tangle Boom, Kryston Mantis hooklink
I had this final trip well planned. I was going to fish groundbait feeders, huge ones, filled with scalded pellets and mixed with Dynamite Green Betaine groundbait. That was prepared in the afternoon and I split the mix by riddling it, sifting the finer stuff off for use in the feeders and the half dissolved pellets would be pressed into balls and loose fed at the beginning of the session. They went down like stones.
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| Chimera & Baitrunner – note the black camo night line! |
I took two rods, a Harrison Chimera with Shimano 5000 baitrunner and a H-design (Harrison’s still) Sulis 11 foot rod to which I attached a new Kingpin centrepin reel I should be testing. The plan was to stick the Chimera on a rod rest (no alarms, pointless) with the baitrunner on and hold the Sulis/centrepin. I started about 7 and Frank turned up about 8 and after half an hour or so I went to have few words.
It appears he hadn’t had much success during the day, I think he mentioned he’d had a bream, which must have pleased him, not! After discussing each others plans for close season fishing, where he said he would “empty” a local 80 acre gravel pit, I went back to recommence my fishing. I got to my swim and horror of horrors, I hadn’t set up the landing net, would I have been in trouble trying to net a fish with a hand-held net.
It wasn’t much longer before the baitrunner started whirring and the rod top was bending over savagely, I had a fish on! I knew it was a barbel, not large by present standards, by the way it fought and whilst playing it I also tried reeling in my centrepin rod. That out of the way I grabbed the landing net ready and tried steadying it in the fast flowing current.
Eventually she slipped in and I lifted her onto the unhooking mat – just as Frank had decided to call it a day and was walking off back to the car. After congratulating me (nice to have that off a “living legend”) he offered to take the photographs thereby returning the favour I had done for him the previous Thursday. We weighed her in the net and she came up 11lbs exactly, take off 1lb for the net and that made her a ten pounder, finishing the season with a double can’t be bad.
I stuck it out until 11 and just got the feeling that there wouldn’t be any further bites. Going home I had the satisfying feeling that it hadn’t been a completely bad year, some days could have been more rewarding, but don’t we always wish that. We’ll just have to hope that next season is better, as we always do. Fishing, eh?
