Well one day we had to stop fishing and the next day we were allowed. I think the Angling Trust have done a great job and the information and video's they have been sharing has been fantastic. Of course not everyone will be happy but I am confident the vast majority will be.
I was meant to be fishing a Weston Super Mare Club Match on the River Axe today but with no match fishing permitted I had planned to just pleasure fish the Axe. I arranged to meet up with Matt Davis as you are allowed to meet up with one other person outdoors. I then watched the Angling Trust live on Facebook and decided not to go as the Axe is just over 15 mile from my home. Although there is nothing written in law the Angling Trust was recommending not to travel no more than about 5 mile to fish.
I decided to fish my Club Water the River Kenn in Clevedon and its only 5.5 miles away. Matt was still going to join me and we arranged to meet up on the bank at 08:30.
I managed to get some bait for both of us before it had all gone as the local tackle dealers cancelled their bait orders when the Government announced fishing was not permitted.
Leaving home the dashboard on the van indicated it was minus 3 brrrrrrrr. The forecast suggested it would not go above 3 later in the day, but it was dry and not much wind. The tide was also spot on for running a float through.
We decided to fish above Strode Rd. I went on peg 35 and due to the low river was going to stand in the mud / water up to my knees, the top of the bank would be just above my head. It's not everyones cup of tea but I find it more comfortable even though it takes a while to get set up. Matt went up on the culvert just below peg 38 where he could set up on a pallet on top of the reed bed.
I set up a 3AA waggler and a maggot feeder that was it. A pint of caster and some mixed maggots was on the bait waiter.
The flow was spot on but the water very clear. I decided to feed just caster today with maggot of different colours on the hook. I was ready by 09:30 and cast out the waggler with a yellow maggot on an 18 hook. I didn't feed anything and bumped a fish at the end of the trot, probably a perch and gave me encouragement on this cold day.
I catapulted in about 6 casters every trot and didn't get another bite for about an hour and three quarters and bumped that fish as well, checked the hook and it was ok. Fifteen minutes later the float went under again and it was a decent fish. I saw it just as I was about to net it, a tench of around 3lbs but the hook pulled out!! Bloody hell, that pissed me off a bit.
At least there were a few fish willing to feed. Kev Perry was fishing the next peg down and was catching small perch and roach tight over in about a foot of water. I decided to stick with my line two thirds the way across in about 3 foot of water and keep the caster going in.
I hooked into a decent fish right at the end of the trot and the rod was bent right over. My hook length was 0.11 power and I had a B611 hook so was pretty confident playing it. The way the fish was behaving made me think it was a pike or a carp or a big tench. To say I was surprised to see a big chub is an understatement. We stocked chub back in 2008 but they are rarely seen, maybe one is caught a season.
It was a good fish and was bent double in the landing net, a good fish of around 5lbs, I was buzzing.
I managed a perch of around 12oz and then a tench of around 2lb 8oz to finish the session and packed up at 14:30.
Paul Nichol's was on the bank and phoned Adie Baker our Match Secretary to come down and weigh it for me on the Club's digital scales.
Adie came down and the chub weighed 4lb 11oz, last February one came out weighing 4lb 14oz.
Thanks to Paul, Adie and Kev for the photo's etc.
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