I finally managed to get myself to the bank yesterday for a few hours fishing. Physically, I felt a lot better, but mentally I still had this nagging doubt that I was taking a big risk by going out fishing. As it turned out I still felt fine when i reached my venue at 6 am (Yes, I still go as early as possible, regardless) and taking things dead easy I moved the gear to a swim as close as possible to the car. Not my preferred swim by any means, but at least it was water in front of me and not the sitting room carpet!!
I'd finished another set of pigeon quills (4 to 6" long) painted with yellow tips to try under trees/bushes etc. if I got the chance and this swim had both. They take very little shot so it was a few No 8's down the line in about 5' of water with large hemp/ tares as bait.
Almost at once the float (on its way to standing vertical) moved across the surface before submerging so it was very easy to hook the fish, all in the region of 6/8" all of which took the hemp. Over the next couple of hours or so I tried tares and then elderberry in turn, going back to the hemp to see if fish were still present, from time to time.
Without doubt, and regardless of set-up hemp was THE bait, or so I thought...
Over a cup of hot, and might I say delicious tea, I mulled over my options and decided to try my tinned curried chickpeas, which had been in and out of the freezer some weeks ago and consequently were a little soft, but they still remained solid enough to take a fine wire 16 hook, although they wouldn't take much casting!!
I retained the float but with the heavier bait I had to remove a single shot to keep the float tip above water - but only just. An underarm cast with the 11' Ultralight had the float settle just under the rod tip, and I sat and waited.
The first two bites (a dip followed by a sail away) were missed, so I removed another shot to give more float (1") above water which might just give me more time on the strike and this did the trick. The next bite produced a lovely roach of 15ozs (I shook the scales but still the wouldn't move to the lb) in pristine condition, and looking down at the fish I realised how much I had missed these past weeks........
The next 15 minutes produced three further fish of 2x12ozs and another of 131/2ozs all in prime condition. Every bite was identical and had the rod been in the rest I doubt i would've hooked any of them.
By this time the aches and pains had returned in spades and although walking up and down helped a touch, my moving around on the seat helped me miss two further bites, so I reluctantly pack and made my way back to the car. By the time I reached home I was quite stiff but a few exercises did the trick and i was able to sit back and mull over the mornings action with a cup of coffee in some comfort.
I did have the fanciful idea that I might repeat the event this morning but by body thought other wise so in an hours time \i will head out for a good walk in the hope this will enable me to fish again before the weeks end. Time will tell......
ps I do harp on about curried chickpeas direct for the tin from time to time and with good reason. Invariably, the produce fish and mostly good ones. Yesterday wasn't the first time better fish have fallen to them and if you can find them in Indian Grocer shops they are well worth a try. Very few waters would have experienced them so in a way they are something newish and different. For freebies I break up a few with my fingers and this seems sufficient. I also soak hemp in the juice from the tin and use this sparingly.
