Another early morning session on Thursday, but this time somewhere deeper than the Nidd. I opted for my other favourite river, the Derwent. It's a lovely looking river and just screams fish, but it is rather deceptive. Despite being only 40'-50' wide it's often around 10'-15' deep and with a good bit off current. The swim I choose turned out to be 11' so I opted for a 4.5g avon with a 4g olivette 3' from a size 18 hook. I had quite a few trots through with out any hook bait as some swims can be seriously snaggy. This one appeared to be alright on that score.
I loose fed half a pint of maggots, in the hope of feed off the inevitable minnows, before my first trot down with double maggot. After a few trots down I started picking up the odd gudgeon before I managed to find a snag, a large twig. In fact I ended up hauling for of the put of the river by the end of the session. Why don't they show up when I trot down with out a hook bait on. Constantly feed handfuls of maggots eventually attracted a few large fish in the shape of roach, chub and perch. These seem to come entirely at random. In four casts I had a perch, chub, dace then roach.
While I had a cuppa tea I tossed out a feeder on the same line, but this seemed to mainly attract minnows. How to they get a size 14 in their mouths and rattle the quivertip so much for such a tiny fish.
For a while I watched a young raptor chasing a parent about, squeaking pathetically for food, I assume. The fishing had been steady until the full brightness of the sun broke through, then the bites tailed off. I took the hint and headed home.
On Friday I tried a short evening session on my favourite little river, the Nidd, rather than a early morning session. The usual trotting set up, with maggots for anything that turned up.
The first four swims produced nothing. The fifth, though, produced a couple of little chublets. Retrieving a third, a huge bow wave followed it in. Lifting it out of the water quickly it flipped off the hook and landed right next the pike, which just turned and ignored it. Retrieve the next trot down the bow wave appeared in the same place and the pike just followed the spinning maggots at about a foot behind them before turning away. Intrigued I just cast down stream and retrieved, again the same thing. I tried this a couple more times at different speeds all with the same result before the pike got bored.
By now it was into the 'magic hour' before dark so things had to look up, surely. I decided to stick to the last swim and after a few minutes started to catch gudgeon, after gudgeon, after gudgeon. With half an hour to go before dark I moved on. There are only so many small gudgeon you can catch with out get bored, unless it's a match. The final swim produced just one chewed maggot.`Should have stayed catching gudgeon.
On the way back to the car a small owl swooped past me only a few feet away before turning back into the trees.
Despite monitoring the levels on GaugeMap, I was still surprised as I wandered along the Nidd how the water level is holding up. I was also surprised by a barn owl as it swooped towards me from round the back of a willow. Today's plan of action was to fish the swims I hadn't got to on my previous visits. To this end I chucked a few handfuls of hemp in half a dozen of them and intended to float fish sweetcorn or meat through them I as I headed back.
The intention was to give each swim 30-40 minutes. Despite giving each swim it's allotted time only two produced. The second one produced a couple of tiny chub to corn and the last one a couple of small chub to meat. I must admit I've never done well in these last few swims early season, they always fish better in autumn.
Apart from pin fry and a small shoal of tiny gudgeon, these were the only fish I saw. On the way back to the car I watched the barn owl, through he trees, grab it's self, or maybe it's chicks a meal.
My last trip for the opening week and I'd come up with a cunning plan - A setup somewhere between the previous two. 4.6lb hook length to size 16 hook, a 12' Shakespeare Mach XT and the same 3g chubber as before. I selected three swims and chucked 4 or 5 handfuls of maggots in each.
The first swim proved a nightmare. Float bobbing about, chewed maggots, but no contact with anything. After 15 minutes I gave up, chucked a few more handfuls of maggots in in the hope of feeding what ever little horrors were down there off. Swim two failed to produce a bite so after half an hour I moved to swim three. This too was very quiet up until the point I was thinking of moving. I then had seven nice dace in about as many casts, before I bumped one and spooked the shoal.
Back at swim one and the little horrors had disappeared. I now seemed to be picking up leaves instead. After 20 minutes, or so, the maggots started getting pulled to bits again so I moved on. Swim two, first cast and I was in. Clearly a barbel as it crashed about the swim. Thankfully I was able to keep it out of the tree roots. After a bit of a prolonged battle it was in the net, all 4lb 13 oz of it. Along with it's rather tatty fins it had quite a deep cut near it's tail, but appeared to be in good health otherwise. I had a few more trots as it rested in the landing net before moving back to swim three which was now fishless.
Swim one was also fishless, or so it appeared. After a few trots though I had a lift bite, which I stared at in disbelief before it shot down stream at hell of a rate. Eventually, as it was about to round the down stream bend 30 yards away, I appeared to regain control. I managed to regain about half the line before it shot off again, right down the near side bank crashing through the over hanging trees before the line parted above the float. The last two foot of line was seriously abrade. I hate leaving tackle attached to fish, even just a hook length. I had a wander around down stream, but couldn't see any sign of the float or what ever.Not sure what I could have done even if I could see it bobbing about behind a fish. Somewhat pissed off I wandered up to swim two.
Chopping 6' of line off and winding it into the Monomaster, a damn useful device if you can hold of one, I re-rigged. It wasn't long before I was into another barbel. After a brief, but frantic fight a 3lb 4oz fish was in the net. With time ticking away I stayed in swim 2 and was reward with a somewhat larger fish that got far too close to the tree roots at times. Eventually a 7lb 2oz barbel was in the net. and with that it was time to go.
Not a bad end to the first week of the season really. As for the lost high speed fish, I've no idea what it was and it's not the first time I've lost a fish like this in the Nidd. A friend who lost a fish that disappeared about 50 yards down stream at high speed thought it might of been a salmon. Which is a possibility.
Down to the Nidd again for a short session trotting. My cunning plan to defeat the barbel worked like a charm, didn't hook a single one.
Armed with a Youngs Specimen Float, 6.6lb hook length and size 16 heavy gauge hook under a 3g Chubber I had no problem getting bites with plenty of little chub and a few bleak coming to hand in the first swim, until a 12oz grayling turned up. Unfortunately it didn't survive this encounter, as it swam over the drop off, after I'd released it, a pike shot up and grabbed it. Nothing more came from that swim so I moved on.
The next swim produced a couple of smaller grayling before the little chub turned up. Again plenty, but of no size, were landed. Like the provisos swim a pike turned up, grabbing a fish as I wound it in, chomping straight through the line. As I tied an another hook length a few of the little chub scattered and there was a large swirl as the pike continued their breakfast. So I moved again.
After a couple of trots through the heavens opened with one of those scattered showers. Thankfully I'd brought my brolly so hid under that. I set the float over depth and added some more shot and did some stret-pegging, as trotting from under a brolly is hard work. First bite was from a gudgeon, which didn't make it to the bank snaffled by a pike again. By the time the rain had ease off it was time to leave.
I have chance for one last go tomorrow Hopefully I may be able to add a gudgeon and barbel to the species caught and the pike will be full, so not make a nuisance of themselves.
Had another wander along the Nidd, this time with a a trotting rod. The intention was to spend 30-40 minutes in each swim trotting maggots under a stick float. Basically it went according to plan. Rigging up a size 16 to 2.9lb Matchline, under a 4 No. 4 alloy stemmed float, 14' match rod and a 'pin.
After plumbing each swim and having a couple of trots through with an unbaited rig, I chucked in a couple of hands full of maggots and stuck 2 on the hook. I normally got a fish with in a couple of runs through, nothing to shout about chub, dace, roach and bleak all put in an appearance. Remarkably, no matter which swim I caught them from the were all of a similar size like the same shoals were following me.
The only problems I had were with the barbel. I hooked and lost three of them. Nidd barbel tend to go mad when hooked and I never really felt in control of them. The rod didn't help, it's an 'old school' tip action device which locks up pretty quickly so you. tend to run out of shock absorber. All of them though ended up in the tree roots. The other problem I had was getting bites on double maggot and ending up with one chewed maggot, but when I fished single maggot I didn't get a bite.
I was surprised not to get any gudgeon or perch, but I have a solution to the barbel problem. I'm taking my barbel trotter tomorrow, that should stop me hooking them.
