He is also a very keen angler, having come back to the sport in 1995 following a break of several years. In this regular column he will tell us about his progress as an angler – his thoughts about the sport, what he learns, the fishing trips he makes, the anguish, the humour, in fact everything he experiences as his angling career develops. | ||||
Don’t let the conditions dictate too much Entering into the last seven days of the river season I felt an uncontrollable urge to go fishing as much as possible! OK, not much has changed from the other fifty-one weeks of the year, but at least I had the excuse that in a week’s time it would all be over for another three months. So at least I didn’t feel any guilt pains about my desire to fish around the clock. So, with the countdown already underway, I started the last week on the River Severn in its upper reaches. It’s always advisable, particularly with the Severn, to check the river levels before one sets off. In fact I checked for a couple of days before my trip so that I could determine a pattern that the figures would hopefully present. However, as with most things connected with fishing and the weather, all was not clear.
I would have preferred the levels to be either ‘good’ or ‘bad’, as that way it would be easier to determine whether I should fish there or somewhere else. But instead of ‘black and white’ figures, the statistics were more of ‘grey’ hue. Still, I decided to go anyway. And as I crossed the river on the way to my chosen stretch I was glad that I had gone with my instinct. The river looked great. It certainly didn’t look as if it was rising, as the telephone message had indicated. The problem with the Rivercall* service is that it is only updated every twenty-four hours at 00.01. A day is a long time in the life of a river, especially one as temperamental as the Severn. And so it proved, as a marker stick put at the water’s edge soon found itself high and dry, like Noah’s ark on top of the mountain as the waters receded. The river looked good And not only did the river look good but the temperature was a very healthy eight degrees. This rose even further to the dizzy heights of nine after an hour or so. I was well set up for a good day’s chubbing. But more of that in a moment! Back to the conditions – I first want to make a comment or two about the way we let them influence our fishing. I think it’s good that we use the facilities such as Rivercall, but at the end of the day not to become a slave to its statistics. Other factors such as moon phase, temperature and so on I would also include in this category. I was once fishing and someone arrived at the water who himself was very much into the moon and its effect upon angling. He looked at his watch, informed me that he had missed the peak period by 10 minutes and so wasn’t even going to bother setting up.
The reality is that if we sought perfection as far as conditions are concerned before we got our tackle out, we’d probably never go! Often we can be fooled into making wrong decisions based on the statistics that we have before us. But, back to the session in question, which actually proves my point in a reverse sort of way. Everything looked spot-on for a red-letter day. (The only negative thing that could be said about the conditions is that it was a bit too windy. But even that was overcome when the rod was positioned low to the water so as to minimise the effects of the wind.) Unfortunately, no one told the chub that a red-letter day was on the cards! I fished from 11.30 a.m. until 8.00 p.m. and had just one fish, which could possible qualify for next year’s Guinness Book of Records as the world’s smallest grayling! All that carefully and lovingly prepared bread mash concoction, and just one tiny fish to show for it! Onto the Sow I wanted to see the season out with some barbel fishing, so before embarking on that, I managed to fit in another chub session. As it was just an evening visit I chose the River Sow as I can be there in a little over half an hour – M6 traffic permitting, of course! Again, the conditions looked perfect. The temperature hovered between seven and eight degrees, there was just enough colour in the water to give me the edge over the wary chub, and to put the icing on the cake I headed for one of my ‘banker’ swims. I couldn’t fail, could I?
I landed a log! I did manage to catch a 4ft long log though, as it tangled itself around my line, later in the session. I did wonder if I would get it to the side, as my line was only 4lb breaking strain. But I managed to do so, and then ‘chin hooked’ it out of the water and back onto the land where it belonged. Pulling in a dead weight, even if it is extremely heavy, does not compare with a live fish on the end. If I was asked, as indeed I often am, why do I go fishing, I can give a multiplicity of answers. One of them is definitely the thrill of the fight as I play a hooked fish. However, on this occasion it wasn’t to be, and so, as my chub fishing ended until the autumn, it was a case of going out with a whimper rather than a bang! Still, there are a few days left before the river season ends, and I’m now putting my barbel head on to see if I can get a specimen or two. The conditions look good with the forecast for the remainder of the season predicting occasional rain, brought in by SW winds. Mind you, you can’t always trust the conditions, can you?
The lesson to be learnt in this week’s sermon is ‘Don’t let the conditions dictate too much’. Whether they are ‘good’ or ‘bad’ don’t become a slave to statistics. At the end of the day fishing is not a science, in the sense that its performance can be accurately monitored or predicted in a laboratory setting. And to be honest, I’m glad it is like that. I don’t want to know that for a particular day the fishing will be good from 14.25 until 14.46 and the other twenty-three hours and thirty-nine minutes will be a waste of time. I like the sense of unpredictability that comes with angling. Sometimes it works against us, as in this week’s article. But sometimes it’s that sense of the unknown that inspires us the other way as well. However you look at it, don’t forget – ‘Don’t let the conditions dictate too much’. * Rivercall is the river level information service offered by the Environment Agency. | ||||
My apologies go out to Mr Meatloaf for my attempted plagiarism, as next week’s Pilgrim’s Progress is entitled ‘One out of three ain’t bad’. What am I talking about? Have I decided to ditch the angling scene and enter the world of songwriting? Well, you’ll have to check out FISHINGmagic next Thursday when all will be revealed. See you then. The Reverend Stewart R Bloor Pilgrim’s Progress – read it every Thursday! |
Welcome!Log into your account
