The Day After The Start Of The Trout Close Season

I don't often fish the opening day of the trout season as the rivers I have access to aren't that great until April or even May. With the current restrictions the choice was even more limited. At a push a couple could be called local, but my twenty mile or sub thirty minute limit all that was left was the beck. With nothing to do, sort of, I decided to give it a go for a couple of hours or so. The garden can wait a day or two. My problem with trouting at this time of year is the fact I associate it with blossom on trees, warm(ish) weather and clear water. I also really enjoy dry fly above all else, even to the point where I'll fish it knowing chucking a nymph about would produce and this is not dry fly time at all.

As I wandered to the downstream end of the stretch I was surprised to find the woods had be thinned out. A lot of the dodgy alien confers had been removed which should give a bit more light to the beck. Areas of bramble had also been removed allowing some iris to, which were just poking through, to get some light. The floods of autumn and winter had clearly reshaped the bed of the beck and made the banks some what steeper to the point of been sheer. As I paddle about it was clear that areas that used to be gravel were now covered in silt and previously silty areas were now gravel. This won't have done the sparse weed growth any good. At this end of the beck its was just starting to make a comeback. From the tracks in the mud it also looked like an otter had been for a trip upstream. There did get to a point where I saw no more so maybe it only got so far up before returning to the main river.

I spent the time fishing flicking a small gold head PTN into likely looking lies. Apart from a couple of gudgeon and some fry fish wee rather thin on the ground. This didn't really surprise me. I don't often catch here until end of April in to May. While having a cuppa and pondering what to do the sun came out. This made things look somewhat less desolate. Rooting through the fly box I came across a couple of little dog nobbler, wooly bugger style jig flies. I decided to try pulling the through some of the deeper pools on the next stretch. It soon became clear that casting these things with their heavy tungsten bead was not the same as flicking a brass beaded PTN on a short line. A seven foot weight four isn't really the tool for the job, or it could be my casting, or both. Roll casting the little heavy weight didn't really work as the thing anchored itself rather to well. The weight was needed though to get down into the depths of these holes. Some of them are four to five foot deep. It was fun though, even if all that was caught was the occasional twig both in the water and above.

It was a pleasant couple of hours or so. Interesting to see the changes the beck and what had stayed the same. I might give it another go in the next couple of days with a U/L lure rod and some little jigs. The only problem with that is that the garden really needs a bit of work. I'm sure I can fit both in if I try. The day ended on a rather silly note. As I went to get in the car I dropped the key which landed in among the adjustment rail and some cabling for the seat belt sensor. I could just reach it from above, but couldn't grip it and get my hand back out. Poking around under the seat from behind I could raise it, but couldn't get my other hand to it. If only my arms were a couple of inches longer. Eventually I managed to nudge it so it dropped under the rail where I could get hold of it and get on my way.

So, That's It Then

The coarse fishing season for rivers finished on Sunday 14th. As I couldn't get the weekend off today was supposed to be my last session on the rivers. The weather gods had other ideas as the river started to rise on Wednesday and topped out today, Friday, at just over 3m. Although I'm now glad I didn't get the weekend off and can use the days at some other point I wasn't pleased at not finishing on a river. I don't know why though as  the last day is generally a damp squib.

 

After a bit of dithering this morning I decided to pop down to the local gravel pit for a spot of piking. As I arrived at the parking spot the heavens opened so I sat in the car for half an hour waiting for it to die down. There were already four anglers there, all pike fishing. As two anglers left around lunch time another one arrived. The grand total for the day was two dropped runs and a follow on a lure between the lot of us. Which just about sums the season up.

This has not been the best of pike seasons for most of us. The anglers I've talked to have had one or two good sessions, but an awful lot of blanks. Some of us just seem to be out on the wrong days.  Where I fished on Tuesday produced a few pike on Wednesday, including a couple of doubles.

 

Lets hope the weather settles in time for the 25th and the start of the trout season. I've got a couple of new rods sat ready and waiting, along with some full fly boxes.

Heads It Is

I'd been unsure where to go on Wednesday, but I'd heard rumours of a few pike coming out near the Nidd mouth. Nothing big, but pike none the less. The only thing was they were taken early morning apparently. So there I was just after first light hurling a big mackerel head into the large eddy. I'd opted for ledger rigs as it's an awkward spot to float fish, also because I was going to use a popped up sardine on the other rod and a vertical line near a popped up bait is just asking for trouble.

It was an hour before I got my first run, on the mackerel head.  No contact was made with a fish. I thought the large bait my be a problem if there was a few jacks about, but hoped it may sort out a bigger fish. An hour later another run but this time contact was made and a spirited jack of 78cm was soon netted. So much for the big bait theory. It had quite a few leeches on it. I would have thought with spawning imminent they would be of the bottom and on the prowl. 

The other half of the mackerel went out. A while later a few bait fish scattered so I had a go with the lure rod. After a few casts contact was made with a fish of similar size. As the net was a few yards away the other side of the chair I opted to chin it, as I grab the leader the fish thrashed in the shallow water and unhooked it's self. This is why a prefer a net. As I'd forgotten to plug the external power into the camera the battery had run down some time early so none of this drama was videoed. I'm really not very good with this camera lark.

A while later I had one of those really annoying incidents. The rig had snagged. I did manage to pull it free only for it to snag again. Again I pulled it free and again it snagged. The third attempted unfortunately resulted in a break. I don't know hat mes is down there, but the last couple of feet of the braid was in a very sorry state. I chopped four foot off and re-rigged. Out went another mackerel head. A lot of people have no faith in the heads so don't fish them, but I've done quite well with them in the past. The cunning ruse with the popped up sardine failed to work despite persisting with it all day. Two other pike were taken, that I saw. One by one of the Bobble TV chaps, and a small jack by somebody lure fishing for perch.

 

This is another of the pike hotspots that seems to have deteriorated over the past few years. Quite why I don't know. The general consensus seems to be the excessive floods of the last few years. The end of the river season will soon be on us and the weather looks like it's taking a turn for the worse. Wind and rain, a combination I loathe. I'll just play it by ear and if there's a break in the weather I'll be out again. I have no real desire to get piss wet through or blown away these days.

Somebody Catches a Fish

Even as late as Friday morning I still hadn't decided where to fish, or how to fish. I had thought of taking one pike rod and a ledger rod and maybe some lobs and/or cheese paste. In he end I decide to head upstream of the city and only took the pike rods as the cheese paste was still in the freezer and would take until lunch time, at least, to defrost. I can't say I was filled with enthusiasm when I got to the river, something just didn't feel right. I had a wander well up the length with the intention of fishing a few swims as I made my way back to the car. Still the sun was shining.

A paternostered roach was dropped in blow the upstream tree and a float-ledgered half mackerel over the shelf. A young swan popped over to say hello whilst in the second swim of the day. By the time I got to the fourth swim the sun had disappeared and black clouds were gathering. I decided to move to the fifth swim before it started to rain. It had a nice flat area where I could get the brolly up and prepare some lunch if the rain became persistent. Of course the rain/ hail/sleet started as I wandered along the bank.

Unbeknown to me there was another angler in the next swim. After the rain he popped round for a chat. He'd just taken up river fishing late last year. Just in time for the floods.  After a couple of changes of swim he did catch a nice pristine chub on feeder maggot, his first river fish since November. This cheered both of us up and despite not catching myself made the day worth while, especially as I sort of recommended the swim.

 

The close season is creeping up. I have a few days off so hopefully will be able to redeem the year which has not been great so far.

At Least The Weather Was Nice

With the river peaking at 2.7m on Thursday evening and not expected to drop below 2m on Friday I decided to fish the gravel pit again on Friday. I'd hatched a cunning plan, I was going to fish from first light until dark a period of 12 hours. I don't normally fish sessions that long these days, but armed with a new gas canister, a couple of pot noodles and plenty of tea bags I thought I would just about manage to survive. I awoke on Friday to a lot heavier frost than I'd expected. Despite the thick layer of ice on the car windows it wasn't as cold as it looked. Arriving at the pit I found the water  had crept up another  six inches since I was last there. This may be the highest I've seen the water in years. This meant a lot of the bankside debris was now drifting about the water.

I started in the first swim I came to. A trout went out in front and a small roach fished on a paternoster was placed near some tree roots. After an hour or so I moved on to the next swim. I was surprised nobody else had turned up, but it did give me the chance to move to the next swim. In fact nobody else turned up to fish.  This gave me the chance to fish all the nine swims, and blank in them all. I didn't have so much as a dropped run. I tried swapping baits. Smelt, sardine, roach, lamprey, eel, mackerel were all tried. I tried pop up baits. Drifting them about at various depths, when thee was enough breeze o allow the float to move. One lad that had done quite well earlier in the month popped down to see how thing we looking. He told me nobody had caught all week as far a he knew and was thinking of giving it a miss this weekend as the pit had seen a lot of pressure this year.

 

Hopefully the river will have settled by next week and I give that a go. There again I seem to be picking the days pike aren't really feeding, but they're my days off so I have to make the best of it.  The weather was nice for sitting by the water though, so can't complain.

Military Maneuvers

As I had appointments on Friday, Thursday was to be fishing day this week. The recent warm weather and rain had washed the snow melt down the river. Although it did peak on Wednesday it had been expected to continue rising, before falling on Thursday. Given the uncertainty of the river levels and the fact it was going to be wet and windy most of the morning, and I have no great desire to get piss wet through these days plus news that pike were been taken at the clay pit I opted for a day there. There are a couple of spots where you get a good command of the water with plenty of features to go at. I managed to arrive before the rain arrived and got the brolly set up and pegged down before the wind and rain arrived.

I wasn't wholly optimistic when I saw the water as It had a blue green tinge to it as if ice had just melted. This colour was to disappear by lunch time as it turned to it's more normally brownish colour. I'd been reliable informed that pike, mainly jacks, were been taken on small roach or sprat dead-baits suspended around three to four foot under a float, so that's what I set one rod up for. The other was set for the usual float leger tactics with a trout as bait. This was cast over to the far-side ledge. The sprat was allowed to drift over the remains of a weed bed that seemed to be sprouting new growth already. The sprat was recast regularly to allow it to drift different lines. The trout was also moved every hour or so, alternating between a feature and the middle of nowhere.

The rain varied between drizzle and quite heavy downpours. When the noise of the rain wasn't too much I could hear the squaddies on the firing range some three miles away. Mid-morning there was a great deal of chatter from birds in the trees behind me. I couldn't for the life of me identify them as I only got a brief glimpse as the flitted between the branches. I turned back towards the water just in time to see the float above the trout disappearing. Initial contact suggested something decent, but it soon became apparent it was just a small but spirited jack. The fight took far longer than it should as the other float rig had drifted the wrong way and there was danger of a real tangle. I'd left the landing net slightly out of reach as well. Still it had stuck to the hooks and was most welcome even at 62cm.

That had been the last of the trout so a slightly freezer burnt sardine went out. Despite the claims by many that baits should be as fresh as possible, I've done equally as well with old baits that may have been in the freezer over a year. The rain gave up by lunch and the wind eased off but change direction slightly. Occasionally the sun would pop out. I had a wander round dropping the sprat near various bankside features with no luck. For a while military jets were flying over I only saw one through the trees but boy did I hear, and feel, them. The noise really did shake the atmosphere. As I sat preparing a cuppa the float above the sprat bobbed about. Winding down produced nothing. This occurred a couple more times. Just as I was pouring boiling water in the cup the float shot away. I did contact with it but, like last week, it slipped the hook. Instead of my usual double hooks I'd used a single size 6 treble for a change, mainly because it was the only one hook rig I had. I continued on until I struggled to see the floats but nowt else showed. At least I'd landed one this time.

 

Do you ever get the feeling you're doing something wrong as everybody else seems to be having better days. I have no reason to doubt my informant. I have seen him blank more than once so I know he has his of days.

Three Nil

With river having dropped well into it's banks I had a choice of venues. Breaking the ice at the gravel pit or sliding down precipitous icy river banks. I chose the later., mainly because I suspect it'll be on the rise again by next week as things start to thaw out. As I arrived at the empty parking area the was some obvious heat in  the sun despite the fact it was still zero degrees. Three deer were grazing in the distance. It was only when they moved that I realised what they were. Too far away for a phone pic The big coat was strapped to the ruckbag as it wasn't needed on the walk to the river. In fact it wasn't needed all morning.  My plan was to start at the upstream end of the stretch and work my way downstream until lunch, then work back upstream revisiting the swims. I intended to give each swim forty minutes to an hour.

Tactics were a float fished roach near any over hanging trees and a half mackerel over the near side shelf. The ground was rock solid, banksticks were out of the question unless I happened on a half brick or similar. The swims were OK as well, the steps were still flat and been frozen easy enough to get up and down. After forty minutes in the first swim I saw my first pike as it grabbed the roach just as I was about to lift it out of the water. After a few seconds it came adrift. A new bait was cast out and I gave it another thirty minutes, but nothing showed. I suspect it had felt the hooks. Things were rather uneventful as I worked my way through the swims.

After lunch I found the roach bait snagged. Now nine times out of ten the forty five pound braid either bends the hooks or pulls a big branch out. This time it snapped at the knot with remarkable ease. I tied on another rig and stuck the hook on a fence and gave it a good pull. All seemed solid enough, I'd certainly applied more pressure than it took to snap the braid earlier. I did the same with the other rod and all appeared OK. The temperature was now four degrees, but with in half an hour the sun had disappeared, a very chilly breeze had got up and there were a few snow flakes getting blown about.

Eventually I was back at the first swim. As I sat having a cuppa the float started to jiggle about. It took me a little while to realise it was a bite. A strike met with solid resistance then back came the bait. A remarkably intact trout. I'd run out of roach as I'd only put two in the bag for some reason. I decide to stick it out until home time. Twenty minutes later the same thing. This time I didn't get my bait back. I moved the mackerel to the tree I'd got the bites near, but nowt else showed any sign of interest. It was now minus 1 degrees.

At least I'd got some runs even if they didn't stick. I have had good look at the hooks and they seem sharp enough. I've certainly landed pike on far worse. Pike are quite good at falling off hooks, even after you've played them for some time. One thing though, I've got the action cam to work in the cold by plugging it into a power pack which is kept in an inside pocket so doesn't get cold.