Working 60 hours plus weeks and a busier than usual family life has left very little time for fishing recently. The odd occasion That I have had the chance to go fishing the rivers were well up and I didn't really fancy heading to a still water. This is also the first time in a month or so I've looked at a blog, so I've got some catching up to do (plenty of reading material for the night shifts), and a few emails to respond to.
This month I have somehow managed to fit in a few short sessions on my local river which thankfully was at a reasonable winter level for a change.
Fri 12th
An early afternoon til just after dark pike session, a couple of stretches visited and although the river was a reasonable level it was still pushing through fairly fast. The second stretch I visited was deeper than the first which allowed me to float fish the marginal slacks.
Within an hour on the second stretch a mackerel was taken, just a jack, but more than welcome.
 |
| My first in a while |
Despite trying a few different baits, methods and pegs there was no further interest in the deads I presented.
Sun 14th
Somehow I managed to escape for a couple of hours on Valentine's Day, again pike were the target. A different stretch of river and a different approach, one rod with minimal kit so I could stay as mobile as possible.
3 hours, 10 pegs, zero interest! A definite blank.
Thurs 25th
The same stretch as my last session and a similar roving approach but this session I was targeting chub. Overnight temps had dropped to -3°C and water temp's were just over 1°C. A very shy bite in the first peg brought some confidence, however nothing in the next half a dozen pegs and the session ended in a blank. Winter blanks are fairly common on this river so I wasn't too disappointed.
With the end of season rapidly approaching I am aiming to fish my local river as much as possible, hopefully the relatively settled weather will continue and the rivers stay within their banks until they close. I am planning a pike session on Sunday morning, high pressure is forecast so I will be trotting live baits (if I can catch some!), this method has been successful during similar periods in the past and fingers crossed it will be on Sunday.