Wednesday 28th January - Pleasure session River Kenn

 I had not been out for what seemed ages but in fact it was only 8 days! My friend Mike is still on my mind and there have been many great tributes and kind words from so many people from within the angling community. 

A few Club members had gone out on the Kenn last Sunday in the sleet and snow. Not much was caught but bream were present in the lower part of the river with one angler hooking 2, landing one but he had lots of liners. The river was a bit out of sorts with flood water coming off the moors on that day.

I had a fair bit of worm, a pint of caster and about 2 pints of old maggots so decided I would go below Strode Rd Bridge and fish for bream. I had a look at the river first from the bridge and it did look spot on with a good flow and a tinge of colour.

I drove off and parked up at the far end of Yeolands Drive put the waders on and started to unload. I then discovered I had no ground bait. Bugger. I decided to drive back to the bridge and fish upstream to use up the maggot and keep the worm and caster for Sunday.

It took me a while to set up in the mud and although I left home at 08:30 I wasn't fishing until 10:30 after pissing about.

Waggler and Maggot Feeder set up with bait waiters out in the mud plus keep net and landing net and a few bits and pieces i.e. spare shot, catty, scissors and drink.

High tide was around 06:40 and although it had turned 2 hours later there was still a fair bit of water coming down. Depth across at the bottom of the far shelf was only just over 3 foot.

Usual approach for me feeding maggot and trotting down again and again and again, holding back and letting go. You need to be consistent when you are doing this and get a rhythm going.

It took longer than I expected but after 40 minutes had a perch around a pound, happy enough. 10 minutes later another about the same size.

Specialist angler Chris Burden came along and asked how I was doing which I told him. Chris went in above me, he targets big roach on the long rod and bread.

I kept plugging away and after an hour had a small roach. It was fishing harder than I expected.

Because the bottom is uneven and I was fishing over depth you strike at a lot of false bites and at time I have struck half heartedly thinking it was the bottom and bumped fish.

My waggler went under fairly quickly at one point and went I struck the fish went off like a train. I thought it might have been another big chub and then as it got closer it looked like a hybrid but when I finally netted it I knew it was a roach. I shouted up to Chris who came down to look at it and confirmed it was a roach, he said that's got to be nearly 3lb ! Chris said he had accurate digital scales and would weigh and photograph it for me later.

I managed a few more perch and roach plus a small tench on the waggler until I lost my gear in a snag around 14:50. I was going to pack up around 15:30 so just fished the maggot feeder for the rest of the session. 

Chris came down for a walk and while he was there I had a big perch on the worm.

15:30 came and Chris came down with his scales and camera.

We only weighed the big roach and perch.

The roach went 2lb 12oz and the perch 2lb 10oz I had about another 6lb made up of the smaller tench, perch and roach.

What a month I have had on the Kenn.

My 2lb 12oz roach

Best perch went 2lb 10oz

My friend Mike Martin a sad loss.......

 I was going to fish the River Kenn today but woke up at 07:00 looked out the window, saw the snow and went back to bed. 

Just after 09:00 I had a message from Nigel Evans asking me to give him a call. I sort of knew what he was going to say ....... "he's gone Ivan", Mike had passed away. I had also been speaking to Clive (Branson).  I had only messaged Mike at 14:50 the previous day asking how he was, his reply was "hanging in there".  So given that message I was hopeful he would pull through.

I spoke to Mike on a regular basis about all things fishing and our Team, Sensas Nomads. When I done a blog about my day on the River Axe the 3rd January I said it would be the last of my ramblings for a while due to Lock Down 3. Mike replied saying "good you can talk to me". I sensed something was up so phoned him on 4th January only to find he was in the Royal Gwent Hospital with a COVID infection.

He was always very careful and was adamant he caught it while visiting a Supermarket and went into hospital at the end of December. He was on oxygen but not on a ventilator. I spoke to him a couple of times a week and he appeared to recover as they let him home last week. It didn't take long before he was re-admitted with a lung infection. I spoke to him early last week in and he asked me to put up a post on the Nomads FB Page requesting people to use text or messenger if they wanted to contact him which I did.

The last contact I had with him was yesterday afternoon as described above.

I have only known Mike for 5 years or so after a few of us joined Nomads when our teams Maver sponsorship ended. We got on really well as we both were of a similar age and retired roundabout the same time.

Mike was basically the Team Secretary and Manager as well as ordering supplies from Sensas M5 Angling who we have a deal with. Mike did not really fish a lot of team matches but co-ordinated our entry to leagues and other team events such as Evesham. He fished a lot of high profile individual matches up in the Midlands as well as Riverfest and Tidefest on the Thames winning the latter 3 times.

In the last few years he has been the "bank runner" for us on the Gloucester Canal Spring League. On two occasions during the matches it was very hot. Mike went and got us all choc ice lollies. The first time I was on peg 64 and he pitched up with the lolly took the paper off it and handed it to me. I took one bite out of it and the tip went around so I'm holding the rod high and bent over trying to reel in with a ice cold lolly in my mouth, quickly handed the lolly back to Mike and landed a 4lb bream. On another match in the same series it was hot again. Mike went and got the ice lollies again but when he got to me, nothing, it was so hot he said he had to eat 3 before he got to the lads including me. He did look refreshed.

Mike didn't dislike the Gloucester Canal but he didn't like it either....he always said "if it don't flow I don't go". Well he did, but pleasure fishing with me on a Wednesday during April and May when the Rivers were closed. Our favourite spot was Castle Down although we fished Hempstead as well. We used to meet at McDonalds in Hardwick for breakfast and then spend a leisurely day catching bream and putting the world to right.

I introduced him to the Bristol Feeder Canal which he loved due to the easy access and being able to park behind your peg, oh, and it flowed. He loved Kellys Cafe even more and went for the extra large breakfast each time, he enjoyed his grub and always left a clean plate.

Together we fished the Avon Individual League in the winter which was held around Melksham, Chippenham and Bradford on Avon. He loved those waters and on one match just beat me into first place on a flooded river at Barton Farm. It wasn't the fact that HE had won it that delighted him it was because a Nomads angler was 1st and 2nd.

Mike also introduced me to Evesham last year and I fished the Team qualifying match in February. I done OK and that lead me to fishing Evesham quite a bit more. Mike was always helpful and maintained a spreadsheet showing what had been caught off each peg over a period of time and the conditions on the day which he shared.

Prior to winning the Thames Tidefest match for the third time he phoned me up telling me he was the "Cover Boy" for the poster promoting the competition, can't tell you what else he said....

I shall sorely miss his company. 

Rest in peace my "Celtic Cousin" and don't buy too many Diawa 125m close faced reels from that great big ebay above us.

Sunday 17th January - Pleasure session River Kenn

 Well here we are again back on the Kenn again due to having to fish locally. I must say it appears most anglers are following the guidance this time around and remaining within their local area in order to fish, the ban on matches has also helped to achieve this.

I do enjoy fishing the Kenn but it is affected by the tide and high tide today was at 09:40 meaning the river would be backing up from 08:30 and not turn until around 11:40. It was a 12.9 metre tide as well so the run off would be quite fast.

Matt Davis was already parked up when I got to Strode Rd Bridge at 08:15 and told me 2 anglers were already settling in on the reeds above peg 36 and peg 38. Matt had already spoke to them and checked their permits.

Matt went in on 36 and reserved 35 for me. That'll do I thought but didn't mind where I went. The banks were well trodden and muddy due to high activity from other anglers towards the end of the week probably due to the catch reports I posted on the Clubs FB Page and my blog.

Later in day the day I spoke to Chris Ford who told me no one caught anything of any consequence after my visit last Wednesday.

There were small fish topping everywhere as I set up but as soon as the water became still due to the tide coming in they stopped. 

I knew it would be a long couple of hours until the water went the correct way but Matt and I managed a couple of small roach on the wag in the lake like conditions.

Kev (Perry) turned up and went in on 34 again and other anglers began to turn up. I knew of at least 12 on the bank today one of which was Jeremy Salisbury who used to run the Veals store in Old Market with his father Mike. Good to see him on the bank.

The tide turned and the river remained pretty fast for the rest of the session, weed and dirty water came off the moors as well.

I ended up with 6 roach and 2 perch none of which were any size. That was probably the most fish caught along the whole river today.

I am getting a bit fed up with this local fishing to be honest as we have not got much choice to go elsewhere if the river is all wrong i.e ..tide, level and weather but I suppose I should be grateful that I can get out unlike a lot of other sportsmen.

I might try and get out on Friday 22nd Jan as this is the best day during the week and the tides are a bit better, will pertaining be back on Sunday.

My winter waggler tackle and method for the River Kenn......

 With so many newcomers to the Clevedon Freshwater Angling Club in the last year and as the main contact for the Club I get asked a lot of questions on how to fish it. I did post a guide on the Clubs FB Page and Website entitled ''Winter on the Kenn, advice and tips'' but here are a couple more in depth tips as a lot of our new members have not fished running water before.

I fish the waggler a lot and have had great success on it so far in January.

For this method I use ...........

4lb drennan float fish line on the reel.

A 3AA straight peacock waggler, this helps when your tripping the bottom and rides up in the water more over an uneven river bed.

For hook lengths I use the Preston Power Line in 0.11 diameter. This is fine enough for bait presentation and will land those bigger fish such as perch, tench and bream should they show up.

As for hooks and hook size I am a big fan of the Kamasan B611 in size 18. It's a lovely strong sharp hook, perfect for the hard mouths of those bigger fish and will not let you down. They come in packs of 10 or a small box of 25 if you tie your own which I do. If you don't I would recommend you tie your own, just get a hook tier and learn how to use it, you won't look back.

       

Your hook length should be about 12 inches in old money. Get yourself a plastic hook wallet to store tied hooks.

1 number 10 shot on the hook length 6 inches from the hook, 8 inches above that a number 8 then 2  number 8's above that 8 inches apart. The rest of the shot around the float but only 1 above on the rod side of the float. Dot the float well down in the water.

Before fishing and when you have set up the waggler rig make sure you plumb the depth. I simply put an AA shot 3 inches from the hook and use this as a plumet. I always set up about 3 to 4 inches over depth.

Once you are happy with your set up cast slightly downstream about one o'clock and feather the line so the bait lands in front of the float and the line below the float is fairly straight. Raise the rod in the air in order to get the line behind the float and then hold in back slightly making the float travel down your swim  slower than the flow of the river. Now and then let the float run and then hold back again. By doing this the bait will lift and drop enticing a fish to bite, well that's the plan.

Feeding is so important. At the end of the trot I put the rod down and feed then retrieve and cast again, do this every run down. Feeding very little and very often at this time of year usually works.

Some times it takes a while for the fish to turn up but keep feeding and trotting down the swim varying the speed of the float and perhaps adjust the depth if things are not working out.

The Kenn as many know is a moody water but ''he who dares wins''.

Hope this helps in some way.

Wednesday 13th January - Pleasure session River Kenn

 Compared to the previous Sunday it was a totally different day today. 6 degree's, a light wind, overcast with a little drizzle now and then and the tide turned at 10:00 ish meaning it would flow the right way all day.

I arrived on the bank at 09:30 and there was no one above Strode Rd. bridge so I went on 35, on elf my favourite pegs at this time of year.

Chest waders on and went out into the mud and water just past my knee's. bait waiter on a bank stick, keepnet and a groundbait bowl in a metal ring fixed to an old broom handle. Two lots of maggots and half a pint of caster on the waiter and spare shot, hook lengths, towel, catapult in the bowl. You need to have all your gear to hand as once you are in .... you are in for the session.

As with the previous Sunday I decided to feed caster and fish maggot. Waggler approach again and first trot down a small roach. Started to feed caster every trot and soon had the roach lining up catching about 6 in as many run downs. 

The roach went and then started to get some tidy perch around 8oz to 12oz.

I bumped a good fish at the end of the trot as I did not hit the bite hard enough. The trouble is when you are tripping the bottom in order to target the better fish the float gets dragged under now and then and I get complacent. 

90 minutes in and I had my first of 3 big tench all around 4lb plus. The session also produced some monster perch pushing 2lbs each and a carp ending up with around 25lb, packed up at 15:30.

Absolutely loving my pleasure sessions on the Kenn at the moment but you have to pick your day.

Sunday 10th January - Pleasure session River Kenn

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.

What a day, unfortunately Matt blanked as did others. A young lad above me was using a method feeder as a straight lead and with maggot on the hook managed a tench and a roach.

Hope to get back out during the week but weather does not look that great, we'll see.

Tuesday 5th January - Acorn Open, Paddock Lake

 I tend to fish a few of the Tuesday ''opens'' at Acorn during the winter as it is usually quite hard. I had tied a tray full of Commercial rigs a few weeks ago and changed my carp elastics as they had not been used for about 12 months. They were too heavy anyway and were replaced with some of the hybrid elastic in sizes 9 and 11.

A phone call to mike Chapman on the Monday afternoon and I was booked in. The Sunday match weights were pretty poor and the winner didn't make double figures. The weather forecast for Tuesday was try with sunny spells but a cold 18 mph wind from the north would make it uncomfortable.

I got there just after 08:00 as advised and there were only a few anglers there. By the time Mike was ready to do the draw there was a total of 7 and it was cold. 

He put 4 pegs down the straight 12 to 20 something to give plenty of room and then 7, 9 and 11 in along the road. Its a cheap day out at £13 and Bev the owner waved the peg fee meaning there was £91 in the pot. Top 2 and silvers to be paid out £40, £30 and £21.

I was about halfway to be draw and Mike gave me peg 9, the right end I thought but the wind was cutting from my left to right. Ray Cooper was on 11 a really good peg and Mike to my right on 7.

Plenty of time to set up with fishing 10 - 3.

Ray's peg and the others down the straight looked a lot calmer to mine and Mike's and I thought this would make a lot of difference in terms of being able to concentrate and present the bait. I had some micro's, maggot, pinkie and worm plus some bread.

3 rigs today all 4x14 because of the wind with 18's. Top 2 plus 2 left and right at angles, top 2 plus 3 for out in front (see I have the lingo for commercials) and a dobbing rig for across if the wind allowed.

Chatting to Mike after setting up he said he didn't have any bread so I gave him 2 slices, he said he probably wouldn't use it.

On the all in I just went out of my short lines giving them 10 minutes in turn without feeding anything and swapping between maggot and pinkie. An hour in and nothing but looking around no one else had caught except Mike who had 2 small roach.

The wind dropped a little and I went out up the far shelf with double fluro pinkie and in 10 minutes I had a small pasty carp. As I netted it one of the other anglers from the straight came past saying ''thats what a fish looks like then'' no one else had caught to my left.

I persevered for a while but the wind was too strong and came back short. to say it was slow is a gross understatement. I kept looking around and saw Ray on 11 bump a couple of fish ...foul hookers as I could see a scale shining in the sunshine on his hook.

About 3 hours in Mike was playing a carp and he managed to land it, a good fish around 5lbs, that would definitely put him in contention for a win based on what I had seen.

The top 2 plus 3 was also devoid of fish and I was freezing so thought stay short, rotate left and right and put the odd pinkie in.

I thought i was hallucinating when the float disappeared and I missed the bite, it went another 3 times before I connected with a small roach but if i could catch a few I might be in with a shout on this hard day.

With around 45 minutes to go Ray had a fish and he played it very carefully, I thought it was a carp when he netted it, not big but better than mine.

30 to 25 minutes to go my float went again, a nice slow decent into the depths and I met some resistance when I hit it. A sleepy carp I thought .... no a big perch just under 2lbs. Another small roach came before time was called.

When we packed up Ray said Mike would be first, I would be second and he would prob get the silvers, his fish was a small skimmer not a carp.

I helped mike weigh in, his carp went 5 -15  and his 6 roach gave him a total of 7lb 3oz. My perch, carp and roach went 2lb 11oz and Ray's skimmer went 1lb 9oz. As for the others there was one blank and then the others had one fish each either a small roach or a small skimmer.

Mike actually caught his fish on the bread I gave him !!!!

So a tough day on a small match but a pick up.

I'm glad I went as fishing has been stopped for a while, l hope I can get back on a river before 14th March if not its the Glossy or Bristol Feeder Canal in the Spring please.

Sunday 3rd January - Pleasure session River Axe North Somerset

 Happy New Year all.

I met up with team mates Sam Johnson and Chris Hook today to fish the River Axe just outside Weston Super Mare. Sam who is Secretary of Weston AA assured us we would have a few bites, well we have heard all that before but after checking their Facebook Page I could see what they caught on their Christmas Match toward the end of December. 30lb won the match, there were quite a few skimmers that made up that weight but there were also good backing weights of roach.

I have fished the Axe once before back in the 80's and believe I blanked in a Bristol P O Club match. 

I picked Sam's brains a bit .... just bring a pint of caster and a pint of maggot, fish the 3 gram whip or a small crowquill.

We met up around 08:30 and went downstream of Bleadon Bridge, an area called the ''Paddock''. it was a fairly easy walk with the light gear but a bit muddy.

We fished off 3 small platforms all in a row. The water was going quite fast but the tide also affects this part of the river. High tide was around 10:30, sam said the flow would slow down but not go still like my home water the River Kenn. There was a bit of colour in the water as well and fish were toping all over the place with pike and big perch chasing them.

It didn't take long to set up as the whip rig and crowquill were already on winders ready to go. Just a case of plumbing up. It was around 6 foot at 6 metres but expected to drop about 2 foot or more during the session after the tide turned.

Chris also set up a whip and quill the same as me but Sam had a 5 metre whip and a 6 metre. One of his rigs was 4 gram to fish worm for big perch.

First trott down and I had a 2 oz roach straight away, Sam and Chris were also into fish immediately.

I was feeding caster quite heavily with double red maggot on a size 20 with the whip. The fish were really having it and after 2 hours I had got through a pint of caster. Luckily I had another pint so topped up the bait tray. 

I walked down with a coffee to watch Sam who had bait dropped in some worm and was fishing half a dendra on his 4 gram rig, he was holding back hard and although he had to wait a while for a bite he did get some big billies.

Chris was also loving the fishing, bite a chuck and had a few hybrids.

Went back on my box and looked up to see Chris play a big fish on the whip, he done well to land it and must have been about 6lbs.

I started feed heavy with maggot mixed in with the caster and must have almost had a roach every put in plus some stamp roach and a big perch.

What a session and we called it a day at 14:30.

All of us weighed over 20lb each, Chris and Sam 22lb and I had 28lb, simply lovely.

Sam with his bag incl a nice perch

Chris didn't mind the mud

Plenty of bites kept me warm

What a great session, I'm back again next Sunday for a WSM Club Match, can't wait.