| MARK WINTLE |
| 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. |
Christchurch Harbour For many years I have been tempted to fish Christchurch Harbour. I’ve read articles and club newsletters, even seen a John Wilson programme on fishing it. Though I have fished within sight of it on both the Avon and Stour somehow I have been put off by my own perceptions of not knowing where to start and difficult access. Just how far down can you find coarse fish? What methods might work? Will I catch any fish? How can I get bank access? Just some of the questions to figure out. A close season walk across Stanpit Marsh showed that there was plenty of fishable bank on the east side. A quick chat with Graham Pepler of Davis Tackle convinced me that I ought to get some fish, with anything from dace, roach and bream on the coarse side to bass, mullet and seatrout also possible. The mystery monsters of this part of the river are large carp that run to over thirty pounds. Methods that might work included floatfishing with bread or maggots, feeder fishing, and spinning with a baited spinner. The tales of plentiful fish win the day. Travel Light Because it’s nearly a mile across to the shore I travel light. On a warm morning with a brisk sou’westerly blowing into the shore I arrive to find the tide already two thirds down and running out hard. According to the tide table low water is due at twelve and it is now nine o’clock. At this point the joint rivers narrow to about eighty yards just below the huge shallow Grimbury Bay. Further down the estuary widens again towards the Marine training camp with another shallow bay on the far side. Looking southwards there is the rise of Hengistbury Head and beyond that the Needles on the Isle of Wight. It seems strange to be fishing for coarse fish so close to the sea. Another angler is setting up on the point of the bay with carp rods to use method feeders. He tells me that it’s also his first attempt at fishing the Harbour, and that he’s hoping for his first mullet. As he is casting well upstream I set up twenty yards below him with a small Avon float and size 14 hook. I bulk the shot load at the top of the hook link with two no. 6 droppers below about nine inches from the hook. A quick check with a plummet reveals not much more than three feet of water but it’s enough. For bait I shall rely on bread using a bread punch, and breadcrumb groundbait. Keep the feed going in To get a bit closer to the fish I use a bait stand and wade out a few yards. With the wind in my face it is easier to control the float by reducing the casting distance. I start by feeding a golfball-sized nugget of groundbait every third cast. It’s not long before the first bites come. Some I miss, others are false bites where the bait drags into a bit of weed but I start to catch some reasonable sized dace with an occasional roach. Most of these fish are small, just an ounce or two but some are four to six ounces and big enough to put a bend in the rod in the powerful current. The sou’westerly wind is slowly increasing and backing to the south as the sea breeze picks up. This wind is against the tide and increases the upstream swell. This sometimes makes it hard to pick out the more finicky bites but generally the bites are positive with the float plunging under. Watch out for wildlife After two hours the tide has dropped nearly a foot, I’ve moved position further out into the river and the fish continue to come steadily. By now Grimbury Bay is almost dry with just a shallow channel alongside the Norfolk reed beds. For bird life this place takes some beating. As anglers keeping reasonably still it doesn’t take long for the birds to accept our presence, and after a short while accept us as part of the scenery. As a result I take my eyes off the float to watch a golden plover just ten yards away, a pair of skylarks keep up their song virtually continuously, and a heron fishes for eels opposite. The best sight of all is one of three little egrets working the bay, gradually getting closer, as it chases small fish along the edge of the shore in two inches of water. Oblivious to us anglers it runs around in circles trying catch the small dace until it is only ten yards away. The fishing itself is reward enough for being here but the wildlife is an added bonus. Plenty of action As the tide has dropped, I have made adjustments to the depth of the float, knocking off an inch or two when the float has dragged under on the bottom. The bottom is fairly clean through this part of the harbour and consists of a mixture of sand and fine gravel. The angler fishing the method is casting thirty yards out and sometimes getting stuck into a load of weed. There’s a big snag out there as well, possibly a tree brought down by floods. The dace and roach continue to bite; still nothing worthy of a landing net but enough bites to keep me interested. Each species seems to take it in turns so that three or four roach follows a run of three or four dace. The seatrout continue to jump, roll and porpoise on the surface right across the river. It is a little early for the main grilse run so the likelihood is that the big fish are seatrout. One seatrout lunges at my float on the retrieve and looks to be about five pounds. Tearaway mullet According to the tide-table low water is about noon but the tide continues to drop and it’s not until one o’clock that the pace of the river finally starts to slacken. Although the river is rising it continues to flow seawards. The dace and roach stop biting with their previous consistency and I start to get all sorts of strange bites. Some draw the float along without submerging it, others are lightning quick. When I finally connect I confirm my suspicions as a tearaway mullet soon comes adrift. Five minutes later the method angler connects with his first ever mullet. With standard carp gear he quickly subdues it. At about two pounds it is no match for the heavy gear but some of the fish being landed in the harbour are over eight pounds, and I’m not totally sure such gear would be so over gunned if you did hook one of the monsters. Five minutes later I get a second chance and hook another mullet. The first unstoppable run is thirty yards. I work it back before it takes off again. With two pound line straight through I cannot pile on too much pressure. Today I’ve ditched my favourite Mitchell Matches in favour of a Shimano Stradic 1000. If ever there was a fish that needed a fighting drag then the mullet surely fits the bill. The reel certainly passes this test with flying colours and within three or four minutes the mullet is in the net. Forget the nonsense about soft lips; it’s a job to get the hook out of the mullet’s tough lip. A quick photo and it’s returned, a fish of about two and a half pounds. After that I get no more mullet, just the odd roach and a surprise bream of about a pound and a half. The river slows until it is almost stationary and the level continues to rise. I expected to get more mullet at this stage in the tide, as the shoals work upstream with the tide and find the groundbait, but it’s not to be. By two o’clock the hard work of trotting with a facing wind has taken its toll. I’m glad to make the trek back to the car park on Stanpit Road, tired but content with about forty roach and dace, the mullet and the bream. It may have been hard work but the rewards are there for the taking. I shall definitely give it another go, possibly trying other methods such as trotting with maggots or an open-ended feeder using bread and groundbait. Tickets available Although this water is tidal you will need either a day-ticket, a harbour permit or a full Christchurch AC membership. Details from Davis Tackle in Bargates, Christchurch or Bournemouth Fishing Lodge, Wimborne Road, Moordown. Day tickets cover coarse and sea fishing only, and must be obtained in advance. There are size and bag limits on bass and mullet. It’s worth checking the tides, state of the rivers (that they’re not in full flood) and wind strength as it is exposed out there. NEXT WEEK: Carp Challenge with John Searl |
