On Wednesday 15th December I decided on a pleasure session on my Club water, the River Kenn in Clevedon North Somerset. The EA drop the level in early December and you are only fishing in 3 foot of water. It can be a bit of a challenge as on a lot of pegs you need to stand in the mud. Fishing is also a bit hit and miss and can be very frustrating as the river is affected by the tide.
This was my first winter session on the river, the tide was spot on for a fishing session up until 3 p.m.
It's not complicated fishing and you don't need a lot of bait.
I went on peg 35 just above Strode Rd bridge. A 2.5 AAA straight waggler with a no. 8 and 2 no. 10's down the line with a 18 B611 hook tied on 0.11 power line. A pint of red maggot and a few worms.
I started fishing at 9 a.m. trotting through two thirds the way across just tripping bottom and feeding about 6 maggots every run.
There was little or no wind so I was able to present the bait in different ways, holding back or tripping the bottom. There was also a tinge of colour in the water.
Fishing this way is a bit of a work out due to the continuous trotting and it was 3 hours before I had a bite which I missed but at least it was a good sign.
Soon afterwards I was bent into a good fish, I knew straight away it was a tench. Nothing unusual about catching tench on the Kenn in winter (I have had 52lb of them in January 2 years ago).
Tony Derrick was behind me watching at the time and took this photo ......
You can't beat catching a fit tench on the waggler in running water.
Over the following 3 hours I had 4 more tench, a big perch and 2 roach. Due to the tide coming in the flow stopped just before 3 p.m. and I lost another big tench after playing it for 5 minutes but it was foul hooked as a scale came back on the hook.
Here's my full catch photo ....
On Sunday the 19th December we (Clevedon Freshwater Angling Club) had our Christmas Open on the River Kenn.
27 Anglers attended which is a decent turnout. We had our breakfast and draw at Angelina's Restaurant in Warren's Holiday Park Clevedon. It was a great venue, plenty of parking and room inside, the food was good and very clean premises.
The draw got under way at 08:45 and I was towards the end of the queue. Team mates Leigh Wakefield and Chris Hook were also fishing.
Into the bucket of dreams and I pulled out peg 36A which is above Strode Rd a few pegs up from where I was fishing the Wednesday before, on paper a great draw and I knew 4 tench and some roach had come off it the previous Tuesday by Steve Warren. Leigh was on 36 above me and Chris was on 11 a good summer peg for bream.
The good thing about my peg was I didn't have to sit in the mud as one of our members built a great platform in some reeds, it actually under water in the summer when the level is up.
I had a decent amount of room between myself and the next angler (Andy Law) downstream.
My rods and rigs were already made up. Full depth waggler and one for right across in 2 foot of water plus a 4 no. 4 stick float for the inside and a small maggot feeder.
An hour in and not a bite (same as the guys above me), then I saw Andy below me net a big perch. 2 more hours with not a bite then a small roach right at the end of the trot on the full depth waggler. Just as I swung it in Leigh above me had a decent perch on the straight lead.
I had a few more roach over the next 30 minutes but they were small but at the same time thought I could put a weight together and if a bonus perch or tench came along who knows what I could achieve.
Sadly it didn't happen and the roach disappeared.
The river on the whole fished rock hard and the match was won by Glenn Calvert with 6lb 10oz of small roach on the pole with pinkie from peg 33 directly above Strode Rd. bridge.
4lb 4oz and 4lb 3oz were enough for 2nd and 3rd place.
There were quite a few DNW's down the bottom end but everyone knew the score before they entered, it didn't help that the temperatures plummeted a couple of days before the match and it was cold all day.
The Club provided some great Christmas Fayre prizes and the raffle was supported with donations from Cadbury Angling and Reel Fun.
I managed a few bottle of wine, some chocolate, pellets (goodness know's what I will do with them) and biscuits.
When I got home I noticed a mouse had already had a go at the biscuit box lol.
The Kenn can be rewarding but can also do your head in but ....... never give up. I'm looking forward to a few more winter sessions.
If you would like to fish the River Kenn there is loads of information and the ability to purchase day tickets and permits on our website ......
https://clevedon-fwac.co.uk/
Going on the dark side tomorrow (Tuesday 21st Dec) Acorn Fishery Cost cutter then on 28th Dec the Roy Carter Memorial on the Gloucester Canal.
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