21lb Of River Roach on Stick Float...Dream Fishing Part 2

A warm welcome to the second blog covering a Dream week off work i hope i find you all well and your nets wet.  In this second blog i will cover a weekend session fishing the river for roach and it really does go to prove the point i make time and time again on this blog and social media that the best fishing really does come in the deepest coldest days in winter.

So many times on Forums i see the comments "Was going to go today but being so cold i thought i was wasting my time"  This comment time and time again baffles me.  This time of year is by far the best time of year for fishing and it is certainly easier than in Summer.  How can it be easier than summer some would think? Well look at it this way and i use a canal for my example.  In summer you walk the canal and it is alive whith fish along its full length, fish of all species and sizes are spread far and wide along its full length.  Come winter and doing your homework you find that the fish are all packed into one area and the colder it gets the tighter they shoal in these areas.

The huge bonus here is that once you find the winter grounds, unless you get a huge change in temperature, then these fish will be here all winter.  The fish tightly shoaled and hungry due to the cold you can really bag up and when you take this idea and add it to a river scenario where the fish are even more on the feed as they are constantly swimming against the flow you will be amazed how ferocious these fish can come onto the feed.

Winter fishing is not for everyone and on the cold days i can understand how some just dont think about going fishing when they look out the window at a howling gale or a hard frost on the ground but if you are the type who thinks i dont want to go because i wont catch then just go out and try it.  You do need to do your homework to be on the fish but in most cases a walk on first light will give them away as the will always top as dawn breaks.  Winter really is the time of plenty for anglers and some amazing days fishing can be had for the price of a few pints of maggot and hemp seed.

On to one such session:

A Dream Winter Session For Roach.....

Waking up to the sound of rain tapping like an annoying alarm call on the window i knew we where in for a wet day on the bank.  A look at all the river levels and they looked to be OK but we both knew the rise was coming and would probably see the River rise during our session, not always a bad thing though as the fish can really come on the feed if they sense a rise coming.

The rain and the cloud cover that brought it had done little to increase the air temperature and it was a harsh cold that nipped at my nose as i loaded my fishing tackle into the car.  For the session i loaded my 13ft Korum Float Rod and my MAP125 Pole as i did not know what to expect when i arrived on the bank and if it was to be a session fishing a slack on a flooding river then the pole might come into play.  Walking the banks before the session the ground was saturated and slippy and the river up and slightly coloured, i was glad of my thermal boots for sure!

A good walk of the banks revealed two likely looking swims we had fished before, one with a slack on the far side and the other with a nearside slack, although at this point the main flow of the river was not too bad.   Plumbing up i found the bottom to be of an even depth but it was a deeper depression in the river bed i was trying to locate and eventually my float that was lying at dead depth sunk away revealing the line i wanted to fish.   Depth plummets are the most important piece of kit you can own for sure.

I started to run through the swim a few times before i committed to putting any bait in, looking for that snag free line, a clear trot found i began drip feeding 5-6 maggots every trot through and a few grains of hemp seed to coincide where i though my maggots where hitting the deck.  This way you feel your way into the swim, gaining an idea of how many fish are in the area.  you can then judge your feed based on what you catch and how fast.

Trickling maggots down the line and a few changes made to depth it was a good 45 minutes before my first bite and it was the tinniest of dips on the float but still a start and where there is one there is more.

I love river fishing for the mere fact you always feel like you can make something happen.  10 men round a lake and ones bagging how do you get the fish away or into your area but on a river you can slowly draw fish from no where up the river. Like a light switch going on the fish arrived and it was a bite a chuck with a bite coming every cast, only small at first but it was bites.

Not long after the bites coming on the rain arrived and it came on really heavy to the point the brolly went up.  The fishing went through the roof as the level began to go back up again.  The small fish at first although still showing where being mixed in with so solid size roach that had taken up residence right on my hemp.

It really was a bite a chuck fishing right through the session with small roach mixed in with the odd better one.  The key to bites was to hold back right on the hemp and as soon as the float righted itself again it would sail under.  Set in a rhythm of cast in, feed, hold back and then strike i almost was not even watching the float so loaded with fish was the swim.

Then came a run of bites i will never forget as a proper shoal of fish moved into the swim.  A hold back on the hemp and striking into something that felt a good stamp bigger.  Jagging from side to side in the current i knew it was a roach but i was not expecting it to be so big.  A huge slab of silver in my palm i quickly jumped of my seat box and raced to my uncles peg "jesus azz look at this!!" i shouted, it was easily a new pb roach for me.  What i did not expect was a few more to be down there and in the rest of the session i had 4 more special roach show.

The ones in the pic below went 1lb10z, 1lb8oz, 1lb,8oz and 1lb 4oz. Ant the mad thing was the fact that come the end these roach where the four biggest over a pound there was at least two more in that bracket.

As the session drew to an end i knew i had a decent net of fish.  I had been catching steady all session and some of the fish had been of a good size so i thought i had a few pound in the net.  My estimate was around the 12-15lb mark but when i come to pull my net in and lifting it i could feel the strain on my arms and net i knew i thought a little different.  On the scales the net went 21lb 11oz""

A 21lb 11oz mainly roach net i was over the moon.

My uncle had also had a fantastic day on the float with a net of 10lb of pristine roach and  nice chub

All in all a session to remember and as a stick float man it does not really get much better than this!!

A 17lb pike and a 20lb plus roach net from a river.....A truly dream weeks fishing

Danny

River Roach and Dace Brace To Remember!!

A warm welcome to this weeks blog update i hope i find you all well and your nets wet.  Well finally the temperature has dropped and unlike the rest of the non anglers i am over the moon.  This update i share my thoughts on going fishing in the cold and then look back at some of my favourite memories of fishing in the cold and the snow. The fishing this week see's us heading out to take advantage of another window of opportunity on the river and this time i remember my scales.

On to the Update...

4 Below Are You Mad To Go??

The news is full of all manner of stories telling of the "Storm of The Century" is on its way or "brace for the Icy Blast" and although from time to time they are right on most occasions the weather is no where near as bad as they mention.  Angling is a sport that has many divisions and sub divisions but the biggest way to divide all arms of angling is into two brackets.  Anglers who fish all year round or anglers who fish in the warmer months, commonly know as fair weather anglers, there in my eyes is nothing wrong with being in either camp.

I am most certainly in the All Year round camp and one of the things i love most about angling is experiencing the great out doors in all its forms.  I find the sight of a canal path laden with ice covered puddles and snow covered river banks just as exciting as the sight of the first daffodils rising in spring and the new lambs in the many fields as you travel to your location.  Each season is as magical as the other in my opinion.  Winter is not a season to be afraid of, many look out and think "as if I'm going fishing in this" but others also look out and think they wont catch in the cold and in my opinion that is the thought process i aim to challenge in this piece.

Winter for me fishing wise is a season i love and although the bank sides are barren and died back it really is in my opinion the season of plenty and actually the easier months fishing for me.  Fishing can be hard don't get me wrong but if you have put the time into learning where the dace will shoal up or taken the time to walk a lake at first and last light to see where the silvers as topping then you are already half way there.  At this time of year location is everything and being on the fish is paramount as the distance fish will travel to their winter haunts can be huge but the difference between catching and not can be minute.

 A great example of this was a session me and my uncle fished on the river dee.  We both fished an area known to hold huge heads of silver fish in winter.  My uncle pegged below the bridge and me above it a gap of only 100 yards and both swims an even depth.  All above the bridge netted up to and above 20lb of fish while my uncle had 3 bites.  Again once you find the fish the lines of success can be so thin.

You have to be prepared to fish in the colder months with the right gear but with good thermal base layers and solid thermal boots you should be fine.  Target fish you know will feed in the cold and you will be amazed what great fishing you can have.

Cold Sessions To Remember...

So when the cold really sets in the excitement levels really start to rise and there has been a few times we have headed out with snow on the ground and had some fantastic sessions but the river Dee sessions really do stand out for me.  The first i remember was a session when me and my uncle headed off to the river in search of dace.  The roads all the way there where a nightmare and it was more out of relief than anything else when we pulled up to the pegs.

The weather for the day had forecast freezing rain, what the hell is that we thought, we ll later on in the session the rain hit and as it hut the floor it froze instantly.  I remember being warm in my thermal gear but my hands where sooo cold and every time i had to put my hand into my hemp that was no mixed with a freezing cold slush i regretted it.  The dace really showed up on the session and i remember us both bagging up on dace, a real show of what can be caught even when the temperature goes into minus figures.

full update of this session here: http://satonmyperch.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/ice-ice-baby.html

The next species normally on my mind when the cold and especially when the snow arrives is the pike.  A few years ago i set my heart on a pike in the snow and off i set to try and achieve that goal.  A stop of first for a bit of stick float fishing to catch some live baits and it was off to the spot i had in mind, same river mind.

The mighty river dee was my river of choice and i arrived at a spot i had caught some pike in summer.  The pike in summer where all jacks around 3-5lb but my target was a pike in the snow i did not really care about size of pike.  The bait lowered into the slack i waited and it didn't take long for the float to disappear into the depths.  A good hard strike and the rod hooped over, at this time i was not really into my piking and was using my 1.75lb barbel rod so you can image the bend.  Certainly not the tiny jacks of summer and yet not a monster, in the net i had my pike in the snow.  Was there more to come though? find out in the update.

link to update: http://satonmyperch.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/dreaming-in-winter-wonderland.html

There are of course many other sessions over the years where we have gone out in the snow but these and the ones that spring to mind.  Having been out yesterday as well in the snow with not so much as a touch you really appreciate the sessions you make the effort and it all comes good.

On to the Fishing...

Brace To Remember On The Stick Float...

The night before the session we had a good look at the rivers and decided to fish the same river as the previous session and in a twist we decided to just take one set of gear and fish the same swim taking it in turns of around 30 minutes to trot the swim while the other fished a lead into a deep hole. 

We arrived on the bank full of expectation and hope.  The swim we knew from experience held a good head of chub with the potential to give us both a bend in our rods for most of the day.  We expected to get the full day as there was no rain forecast and although the river was up a foot or so it had a nice clarity so we expected to catch.

Feeding the swim as we set up i was excited as i sat in the hot seat for the first half an hour stint.  The first trot down and i small little dace was my reward, a good sign as these fish in the swim would only increase the amount of fish In the net s.  A trot down again and the rod hooped round as i struck, a chublet came up in the water and into the net.  Two casts and two bites a solid start.  The nature of this swim is that you normally hit a few nice chub and then the swim can die for a half hour or so and then they come on again.  By fishing the way we did we hoped for one person to catch, then stop catching and then time it so the other person took over right on bite time.

The third trot down i hooked into  fish that felt like another chublet, this was till it came up int he water and i noticed it was a dace and a big one to boot!.  Fighting in the clear water i could see my prize right in front of me and it was a dace i did not want to lose.  A few anxious moments as the dace held in the current and then moved flank on in the current giving you that horror feeling of slack line and a lost fish.  Eventually she came up and slid into the net, a clonking dace and this time i had my scales, 14oz!

The next trot down i decided to go along the fast water to the snag and inched the bait down the swim.  Reaching the snag i held back and the float zoomed under, a nice bend in the rid again and in the fast flow it put up a great fight.  Again an unusual fight that had force but lacked the brute power of a chub.  Up the fish came and revealed itself to be a massive Roach!  Another big silver and a fish i did not want to lose.

My hands trebled as i lifted the roach from the landing net and marvelled at its beauty, a very rare fish indeed and one that certainly a new personal best for myself.  On the scales she went 1lb 5oz, although in the roach world a long way off a monster fish, for me, was two trots down the river i will never forget.

Handing the rod over to my uncle i sat back and thought about the two fish i had caught and was over the moon.  The only thing i love more than fishing a river is watching my uncle trot a float through, it takes me back to when i first started trotting and i would spend ages just sat in his swim watching how he fished the river.  Asking questions about why he fishes that line and why he holds the float back in that place in the swim was all a vital part of the stick float angler i am today.  Able to read a river and approach a swim on my own and feel confident i can catch fish is all down to those early sessions.

Trotting the float through it was no surprise that he was soon into some chub and a good standard to boot.  He took a number of dace and chub during his stint.  Taking over i caught some more but the bite had become really patchy.  The fish where not moving out and the river had gained pace.

For the next few hours we really struggled for bites with my uncle picking up the odd one on the float and a lead fished tight to the snag accounting for another.  Come pack up time at 2pm we had put around 15lb in the net, not the 30lb plus we had hoped for but a nice day on the bank with plenty of banter. 

This session will aways live in my memory for the two trots down in succession early on with a 14oz dace and a 1lb 5oz roach looking as pretty as a picture together on the mat.

One happy angler wishing you all tight lines till the next update

Danny