theartist
Well-known member
I love the days when expectation is exceeded and even more so when it's smashed out the park. Like many others yesterday I set out more to enjoy the weather so much so I went to a stretch of small river near me where I haven't had much success, I had a target of a perch or roach of a pound, maybe a 2lb chub would be good for this stretch and I planned to use a matchstick as I knew the river would be low.
I certainly was low plus very clear and slow so the set up was a simple as it gets one used matchstick attached top and bottom to 4.4 mainline 3lb hooklength and a no6 shot about 8 inches from the hook. I just prayed i'd find some perch as catching loads of chublets on this sort of set up is hard work.
It was a fish a cast from the off even in spots where the bottom was visible and fish weren't, it just needs a bit of 'dark' water and it's amazing what's there. Wading out on to rushes lowering the bait into holes, a bit of work but fun and I soon had around 50 fish mainly roach dace and chub but nothing over a pound.
There was someone where I wanted to try for perch so I found another hole further up which was a whopping three feet deep with a luscious overhang of nettles and the like, where the clear water went went dark although I'd never had much from this spot before so wasn't optimistic. Must admit the 'stick' was working a dream and my single maggot was drifting down the current so natural and first cast was one of many roach before two sergeant majors crashed out of the overhang and their intentions were clear. It was an impressive sight and upon one of them grabbing a 6oz roach I counted to three and struck, a fine perch was soon in the net hooked perfectly in the top lip and at 2lb bang on was double what I had hoped for.
I was hoping it's mate would show but the roach and small chub got bigger and it was evident I was drawing fish up from an unfishable area downstream where the river narrowed to a foot in width, a succession of chub between 2-3lb followed every cast with not a missed bite, it was cast, strike, chub, repeat and many of the fish were in stunning condition
With a chub guaranteed every cast I had a bit of fun taking some matchstick action shots, here's a close up and you can see the matchstick has slid up to the hooklength, this happened every time as each chub tore into the overhang as the swim was only a few feet wide, with the line grating against everything I was surprised I didn't lose one fish, putting it down to the tackle being so direct with only one small shot and nothing to actually catch on a snag.
After 17 good chub in a row I had finally got through them and the smaller stuff was back and that in turn finally aroused the attention of the other perch. With the light fading it was clear this stripey was going have something although he kept turning away when the fish got near the surface, cue a bit of improvisation so next roach I lowered the rod tip right under the water had about a foot of line to the matchstick and that was against the rod tip. It was quite a sight and feeling as the perch actually bumped into my rod tip a couple of times in a circle chasing the roach, once again it engulfed the fish and the three second strike, a trick I learned on the broads saw the perch hooked perfectly in the top lip. With the light fading the perch as a nice way to finish the day and at 2lb 6oz was slightly bigger than the other one.
This was the first time I had used a matchstick on a river I know quite well and it worked a dream in the low water, thinking back I only lost two or three fish all day, (roach flipping on the surface) and I didn't miss one single bite, because the set up was so light and sensitive the roach and dace often zipped the line under quickly whereas the chub moved the matchstick whilst it was under the water a good foot each time, but surprisingly slowly. Once again it was a learning curve but one which saw a whole host of venue PBs for me
I certainly was low plus very clear and slow so the set up was a simple as it gets one used matchstick attached top and bottom to 4.4 mainline 3lb hooklength and a no6 shot about 8 inches from the hook. I just prayed i'd find some perch as catching loads of chublets on this sort of set up is hard work.
It was a fish a cast from the off even in spots where the bottom was visible and fish weren't, it just needs a bit of 'dark' water and it's amazing what's there. Wading out on to rushes lowering the bait into holes, a bit of work but fun and I soon had around 50 fish mainly roach dace and chub but nothing over a pound.
There was someone where I wanted to try for perch so I found another hole further up which was a whopping three feet deep with a luscious overhang of nettles and the like, where the clear water went went dark although I'd never had much from this spot before so wasn't optimistic. Must admit the 'stick' was working a dream and my single maggot was drifting down the current so natural and first cast was one of many roach before two sergeant majors crashed out of the overhang and their intentions were clear. It was an impressive sight and upon one of them grabbing a 6oz roach I counted to three and struck, a fine perch was soon in the net hooked perfectly in the top lip and at 2lb bang on was double what I had hoped for.
I was hoping it's mate would show but the roach and small chub got bigger and it was evident I was drawing fish up from an unfishable area downstream where the river narrowed to a foot in width, a succession of chub between 2-3lb followed every cast with not a missed bite, it was cast, strike, chub, repeat and many of the fish were in stunning condition
With a chub guaranteed every cast I had a bit of fun taking some matchstick action shots, here's a close up and you can see the matchstick has slid up to the hooklength, this happened every time as each chub tore into the overhang as the swim was only a few feet wide, with the line grating against everything I was surprised I didn't lose one fish, putting it down to the tackle being so direct with only one small shot and nothing to actually catch on a snag.
After 17 good chub in a row I had finally got through them and the smaller stuff was back and that in turn finally aroused the attention of the other perch. With the light fading it was clear this stripey was going have something although he kept turning away when the fish got near the surface, cue a bit of improvisation so next roach I lowered the rod tip right under the water had about a foot of line to the matchstick and that was against the rod tip. It was quite a sight and feeling as the perch actually bumped into my rod tip a couple of times in a circle chasing the roach, once again it engulfed the fish and the three second strike, a trick I learned on the broads saw the perch hooked perfectly in the top lip. With the light fading the perch as a nice way to finish the day and at 2lb 6oz was slightly bigger than the other one.
This was the first time I had used a matchstick on a river I know quite well and it worked a dream in the low water, thinking back I only lost two or three fish all day, (roach flipping on the surface) and I didn't miss one single bite, because the set up was so light and sensitive the roach and dace often zipped the line under quickly whereas the chub moved the matchstick whilst it was under the water a good foot each time, but surprisingly slowly. Once again it was a learning curve but one which saw a whole host of venue PBs for me
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