Fourth Session of the 2022 River Season

 Wandering along the short stretch I intend to fish it was very obvious nobody else had been down. This can mean one of two things. Either anglers have been down and can't be arsed to cut their own swim, or this isn't a good spot early season. Either way I was fishing so went full Humphrey Bogart, with my machete, through the nettles to create a swim. The one problem with a virgin swim is you don't know what's under the water. I've done this before only to find it was the most snag ridden swim imaginable. A plumb round didn't find any snags.  It find that there was just over four feet of water a rod length out just beyond some reeds. The deepest spot, some three foot deeper, was around two thirds of the way across.

The stick and 'pin set up was to be used on the inside line and a waggler set up further out. Maggots were fed to both swims and I started on the inside line. First up was a couple of minnows. Not what I wanted. But they were to be the only ones of the day. The next few fish out were small dace. After a dozen or so things went quiet, which wasn't surprising as a small jack cruised up to the keepnet. A poke with the rod tip saw it off. Over on the far line I started with a couple of little gudgeon before catching a small perch. In fact through out the session all I caught on this line was the occasional small perch.

The fish had returned to the inside line and again a steady flow of small dace were taken before it went quiet again. This time three jacks were cruising about. While I poked one with the rod tip the other two savagely attacked the keepnet ripping big holes in it. I think it's now beyond repair. To be fair the keepnet was really intend for use on commercials which are normally pike free. The further swim produced another perch, but the inside line was dead. A cuppa and sandwich was called for.

When I went back on the inside line it was bleak that had moved in. These were quite large and gave good positive bites instead of just chewing the bait like the little ones. If the bleak missed the bait some chub around the three to the pound mark had moved in making for a pleasant change. As the evening wore on the bleak were replaced by roach. Nothing big but a steady supply of bites. After a missed bite I was batting the double maggots in when a jack shot out from the overhanging bush to my right and grabbed hold. An absolute loony of a fish which careered about the swim. Performed somersaults and generally created havoc. Despite the fact I'd stuck my thumb behind the reel handle and wasn't giving line it still took me nearly ten minutes to land. While al this was going on I managed to keep maggots going into the inside line. The jack was a very tidy, chunky thing that was kept in the landing net until it had recovered.

Unsurprisingly the kerfuffle had killed the swims, so after the release of the pike I called it a day. Apart from which I was nearly out of bait. It had fished remarkable well. A steady procession of fish to stick and 'pin in the sunshine is a lovely way to spend the afternoon into evening. The keepnet is definitely a write-off. Next week I'll be exploring some stretches in this manner that I've not fished for a long time. I'll also have to sharpen the machete. While it's adequate for taking balsam down it was struggling a it with the nettles.