Before I start to tell you about my latest trip to the riverbank,I wish to digress some what. As you may know I normally fish a lot with my father Robert and I have had a few mails asking why he is not in any recent articles,the sad fact is he has not been able to make it fishing with me since July or thereabouts,his Parkinsons affects him very bad on somedays and on others not so badly. He also has a lot of difficulty with his memory.
when I get down to the swims on the rivers that we used to fish together it fills me with a lot of memorys and emotions,some warm some very sad,I sometimes envisage him being there with me.
Now I am not the most overly sociable chap going because with my Aspergers it makes it very difficult for me to socialise without feeling like i am a duck out of water,but I try as best I can. I miss the company of Robert a lot and our jokes shared on the bankside,as well as shared enjoyment in each others catches,I miss the person he once was,if not for him then I would not be fishing today,god knows the kind of things he had to put up with when I was a youngster and he taught me how to fish.
Aesthetically pleasing gifts for Christmas or Birthdays are all very well,but nothing is worth more than when one human spends his or her time to show and teach you a skill,it is priceless,do not take such things for granted.
I decided to scale down tackle accordingly so as to be compact,it never fails to suprise me how much unecessary tackle we can encumber ourselves with sometimes.
Keeping it compact
In the above picture,the rucksack contains both my non floodwater stc rods with reels attached,bait,tackle,rigs and camera along with food for myself,leaving me with only a seat,brolly,landing mat/net and rod rests which all fit into the seats carry bag.
After myself being too busy,I managed to get out on the river at the same time as a low pressure front came along bringing some welcome rain and cloud cover with it,on the way down to my swim I was greeted with that ever so rich aroma that you get this time of year a damp and richly intoxicating smell of decaying wood and fungi,the smell of Autumn.
My heart said "new spot?" my head disagreed and I was soon setting up in one of my much loved haunts,despite the weather reports claim of low pressure it was suprisingly blue and cool,but the forecast for a low pressure front to push in later on was still looking likely.
I flicked my downstream rod out on 15mm pellet and a tiny mesh bag with crushed boilies and pellet,no more than a rod length out and into a slightly sandy gravel gully,my upstream rod was placed out with the shellfish B5 freezer baits and a mesh bag with a mixture of crushed F5 elips boilies and shellfish B5 boilies,that was placed to a bush.
Not long after being setup,my left rod smacked over fast and bouncy and fell quiet. Chub came to my mind and not long after it ripped over again,too fast for me to strike and then fell quiet again,on checking the rod,the bait had been ripped off as I find can happen a fair bit with Chub.
So rebaited and recast I settled back and noted that the clouds were beginning to roll in and the forecasted rain began to drizzle lightly and along with breeze picked up momentum,all was at peace.
The left rod bleeped again,bounce bleep,bounce,silence again,ten minutes later it took off and I was met with a solid sprinting bullish resistance,the fish sprinted off again along the near bank margin,eventually a very chunky looking Chub was sat in the net,out on to the mat and weighed I was most happy,it was 6lb8oz and looked like it could push to be 7lb+ later on in the year.
Evening drew in very early as it does this time of the year,the rain eased and the clouds parted to reveal the blue star lined blouse above,the temperature dropped slightly,my left rod tapped and the clutch slowly ticked off,I was into a very slow docile fight that signalled a bream and sure enough it was,I did not weigh it and estimated it around the 6lb mark before unhooking it in the net and slipping it back.
The hours wore on,I was giving it until 1am or so,depending on temperatures,the boilie rod had been quiet for a while,but I have a lot of confidence in the spot and bait,crayfish activity had been very minimal as well,most trips they have been active enough
I dozed a little,head rolling back with the whiplash effect waking me up,the boilie rod bleeped once,I stood up and the swinger shot up and clutch ticked,I was into an interesting fight,interesting in that the fish was putting up a good lively fight,but I could not decide wether it was a Barbel or Carp as it diverted from going upstream and tried to go downstream and make some marginal reeds,it was then that I caught its golden flank in the headlight and saw a small but feisty Carp giving me a tussle,once into the net I noted what good condition it was in and went 6lb exactly,it really was in lovely condition and did not look like it had seen a hook.
Time was ticking on by now at 12am and the cloud that had so kindly covered me had now dispersed and the temperature was dropping along with it,I gave it another hour,no more bites materialised so I packed up and headed for home.
Until next time on fishing for memories,tight lines and all the best of luck to you.
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