09/07/2025 - Summer trotting part II (dozens of dace and a bit of improv)

Whilst still windy, conditions had improved enough to encourage me to head out again with the float rod. Had seen off a pint of maggots in my previous session, so popped in to see Scott at Soar tackle just before he shut for the day only to be told that there was a national bait shortage - conditions too hot in the breeding sheds for the flies to lay eggs apparently! 

Luckily he had enough left for a generous pint measure and after renewing my club book I headed down to the River Soar near Kegworth. As usual, only the pegs nearest the carpark had seen any use and the further upstream I went the more overgrown it became, so by the time I had crossed the lock and onto the island I was fighting through shoulder high nettles.  Had a surprise when I got to the swim - the overhanging willow on the far bank had gone, presumably removed to improve the view of the newly installed summer house in the garden opposite. Needed the bank spike and rope to get down into the water, but once installed I started running the float down the foam line followed by a good handful of maggots. 

Missed the first few bites, the maggot coming back crushed, before snagging a fat minnow....but then the dace arrived! Fished the float for three hours and it was literally a fish a chuck. Had fifty fish in the first hour - predominantly dace, with some small chub, roach and bleak thrown in. Second hour I bettered that with sixty-two fish. By the third hour I must have been flagging because I "only" managed fifty-six! At this stage I decided to give the float rod a rest and got the feeder rod out instead in the hope that a better fish might be hanging out at the end of the swim. Swung the black cap out and let it settle but hardly had time to put the rod down in the rest before the tip starting bouncing away. 

Again dace were the culprits, including the best of the session. Was bringing this in over the lilies when a fish made a half-hearted grab for it on the surface. Assumed it to be a small jack but when the water settled I saw a very big perch slowly turn and ghost away out of sight into deeper water. Interest well and truly aroused I unhooked the dace and dropped it into a hole in the pads in front of me. Almost immediately the water erupted as a decent pike shot out of its hiding place, bashing into my front rod rest and waving a stripy tail in the air in its eagerness to grab a free meal! Was in a quandry now as I was tempted to try for the perch with a livebait, but didn't really have the proper gear with me to cope with a pike. 

In the end I had a scrabble around in the bag and found enough bits to cobble together a paternoster rig. Decided to use quite a small bait and it took a while before I caught one I was happy with. Lowered the rig over the lilies and then settled back to watch the quiver tip. Wasn't long before the tip jagged a couple of times and then hooped over. Grabbed the rod and wound into a fish that obviously wasn't a perch, entering into a war of attrition as it shot out into mid-river and then just held station in the flow. After applying as much pressure that I dared I started to make headway and as I got it up to the surface and drew it towards me I could see the bait hanging outside the mouth of a nice pike. Just managed to bundle it into the net before it realised what was happening.

Whilst it had the head and length of a low double it was very lean so quickly unhooked him, the size 6 lodged nicely in the scissors, and made sure he had recovered before sending him on his way. With him hopefully out of the picture I soon had another bait out and again it wasn't long before the quiver tip signalled some interest. This time it was the target species, but was a fraction of the size of the perch that I had seen earlier - the little, greedy bugger! Gave it a bit longer, but with the light dropping and stomach rumbling I called it a day. Had been a mental session and I'll be back for that perch. However, the temperatures for the rest of the week are heading for the thirties again, so I'll probably leave it until it's more comfortable for me and the fish!

28/02/2025 - Hard going all round

Friday last week promised to be a dry sunny day with light winds, so I booked the morning off for a quick grayling session on the Derwent. Didn't reckon with the hard, overnight frost that had me scraping the car windows. 

I just hoped that it hadn't knocked the fishing on the head. Whilst it was fairly bright when I eventually left the house, as I descended into the river valley it became increasingly foggy and the temperature dropped a couple of degrees to below freezing. Got togged up in the empty car park and made my way across the footbridge, which looked like  a portal into another world! The river, however, looked spot on with just a hint of colour. Made my way upstream in the gloom, interested in seeing what re-modelling had occurred following the winter floods. However, apart from a couple of fallen trees it looked pretty much the same as twelve months ago. Dropped into the swim at the top of the section and sent the float down the run. 

After a few minutes I had my first bite but, after a couple of heavy thumps on the rod tip, what felt like a decent fish came off. After that bites proved hard to come by and after an hour in the swim I'd only had three grayling, including a baby not much longer than my forefinger. Moving downstream, the next two spots were complete blanks and so I found myself in a usually reliable swim downstream of the island with little to show for my efforts. The sun had burned off the fog by now and it had turned bright and sunny. Would this bring a change? First trot down the float buried and I had the first decent fish of the morning that gave a good account of itself in the fast flow. Thought my fortune had changed and that I'd dropped on them at last, but had another fruitless half an hour before moving on again. 

Headed to "the beach" downstream of the footbridge and found that the sand bar deposited last winter had disappeared and the swim was now slow, deep and boily, so carried on a little further to a nice walking paced glide. Again, had a fish fairly quickly but then it was back to scratching for bites and after one final fish I'd had enough. Unperturbed I decided to venture back on Monday afternoon with the remains of the maggots. Finishing off work as quickly as possible I was out the door for 3 PM. It was again bright and sunny when I arrived on the bank half an hour later but, in contrast to my last visit, the temperature was well into double figures and warm enough for me to dispense with my jacket.

With time limited I focussed on the swims I'd caught in last time but after an hour and a half I'd only had one small grayling that I'd somehow lasooed around the tail, so it didn't really count. Dropped into the last swim as the light was fading and managed just one more - at least it was hooked in the mouth. Left slightly perplexed and wondering where the hell all the fish had gone! With the pleasant weather continuing into the week I'd also booked Wednesday morning off but, not wanting to flog what was obviously a dead horse, I decided to follow up a lead instead.

Scott in Soar Tackle had mentioned seeing a big pike during a match on a local section of the River Soar so, after scraping 'round for a few deadbaits, I bought a day ticket online and headed off bright and early. The section in question was opposite some boat moorings, so started off putting a bluey into a gap between two barges and a lamprey down the nearside margin. After half an hour without a sniff I leap-frogged upstream and again put one rod over to the boats and the other down the side. 

After another 30 minutes I was contemplating moving again when the float over the far side started bobbing. Seemed to take an age for the fish to commit and eventually trundle off, but when I wound down I must have pulled the bait straight out of its gob judging by the slash marks on the flanks. Doh! Put it back out for a bit longer hoping for another chance that never came, so moved swims once more. As I was doing so a chap stopped and asked how I was getting on and mentioned that a 17 lber had been caught recently just upstream, so at least confirming I was in the right area. Put both baits out over the far side next to a floating pontoon and was again on the verge of moving again when I saw one of the floats bob and then move off. 

Gave this a bit more time and waited until it had built up a head of steam before hitting it but, even then, the resulting jack was only hooked in the nose by a single point of the bottom treble, which promptly fell out in the net. Tried a couple more spots after that, but had no further interest so headed home for lunch. Again, a bit disappointing despite the glorious weather and regularly being buzzed by at least three different kingfishers, probably more interested in each other than in me. At a bit of a loss what to do next! 

18/10/2024 - Trotanostering, mugged on the Soar again!

Had about half a pint of maggots to use up courtesy of one of my wife's experiments with her Year 13 class. It had started out as a full pint, so she was a bit surprised when I told her that about half of them had mysteriously disappeared. No doubt there'll be a few bluebottles buzzing around school soon! 

Whilst the Trent and the Derwent were on their way back down after all the rain they were still too high to contemplate fishing. In contrast the Soar had remained pretty steady over the last few days, so I headed down the motorway to Kegworth for a couple of hours after work. As I came off on the slip road I was treated to the sight of a buzzard dropping onto the roadside verge like a stone from his perch at the top of one of the lamp posts before making off with an unfortunate rodent grasped in his talons. Parked the car, walked upstream and crossed the lock, chock full of fallen Autumn leaves. Got to my usual spot to find the river gin clear but still quite a bit higher than normal. The main flow was therefore ripping along the far bank but down the inside it was thankfully much slower.

First trot down resulted in a bait-sized bleak that went straight out on the crease at the tail end of the swim on the paternoster rod. Had added several small roach, chub and dace when the float buried and I found myself attached to something more substantial. Couldn't see it properly because of the floating leaves and foam, but it felt like a decent perch due to the head banging. As it came into range I reached around for the landing net only for the rod to suddenly bend double and the centrepin spin out from under my thumb. Whatever it was had obviously been intercepted by something much bigger that was intent on claiming my prize. As it shot downstream I tried to put the brakes on. However, it was more than my 2lb 8oz hooklink could stand and everything fell slack.

Wound in and had just got a new hooklink out of my bag when the alarm sounded on the paternoster rod and I looked round to see it bouncing in the rests. Rather than a perch, the culprit turned out to be a small jack that tore around the swim before I bundled him into the net. Sorted him out, retackled the float rod and took a minute to take a breath. After a bit of a lull I was back to catching a silver a cast and soon had the paternoster rod out again with another bleak on. As the light began to fade I added a single gudgeon to the species tally. Had given myself until 6 o'clock and when my time ran out I had one more cast. The float had only travelled a couple of metres when it buried and I found myself connected to a heavy lump that just sat hugging the bottom out in the flow. 

Got it moving up towards the surface a couple of times but on each occasion it just went back down again leaving a vortex in its wake. Was starting to think that I'd hooked a rare Soar barbel but on the next try I managed to get the fish up to the surface and saw it was a decent pike. Could only think that I'd hooked a silver fish that had immediately been grabbed. Got it moving across the surface using as much pressure as I dared and it looked as if I might be able to get him in the net before he realised what was happening. However, as soon as the net went near him he woke up and made a bee line for the willow on the far bank. I knew that if he reached the fast water I'd lose him anyway, so gave him some more welly only for the inevitable to happen. 

My float pinged back past my ear into the bush behind me and I watched him him sink back down to the bottom again. Packed up and mde my way back to the car just as it started spotting with rain. That's three sessions now where I've been mugged by pike. Think I'll therefore have to give up on the idea of a perch and come back properly equipped - I fancy a wobbed deadbait, something I've not done for years!

20/09/2024 - Trotanostering, back to the River Soar

Had intended to head over the Derwent for my next trotanostering session, but a stiff north-easterly wind knocked that idea on the head. Switched my attention back to the Soar instead where I knew I could tuck myself away around the back of the island. 

However, looking out of the window I was in two minds and nearly didn't go but when I checked the weather forecast and saw the rain at the weekend and the start of next week I thought it was now or never! Was therefore just after 4 o'clock that I crossed over the lock and made my way through the wood. As I got to the river I could that there was somebody in the first swim again. Wasn't my spliff smoking friend from last week, but another chap who had just arrived and put a rod out for the barbel. 

Said hello and carried on upstream past the discarded drinks bottles, cans, sandwich wrappers and fag packets that some idiots had discarded in the undergrowth in the next swim. No doubt that whoever had was responsible had been fishing due to the presence of some empty deadbait packets. However, I certainly wouldn't call them anglers! They'd kindly left the Asda shopping bag that they'd obviously brought everything in so made a note to have a tidy up before I left later. When I got to my swim I saw that the river was a lot lower and clearer than last visit.

So much so that I could clearly see a decent pike sat in the lillies, just keeping station with an occasional lazy flick of a pectoral, but as soon as I lowered myself down the bank and into the river he slowly sidled off in the direction of the willow on the far bank. Got the paternoster rod set up ready next to me and then set about catching a suitable bait. Had three little bleak in successive casts before getting a slightly larger one, which was duly swung out onto the crease. Looked to be turning into a carbon copy of the last session as I quickly added several dace, roach and chub. After about thirty minutes I had my first interest on the paternoster. After a couple of bangs on the rod tip the line pulled out of the clip. 

However, when I got to the rod and wound down there was no resistance. Wound in to find the bleak still on the hook, albeit a bit dazed and beaten up - scuffed rather than with any teeth marks, so probably a perch. Swung him out again and carried on happily trotting away, adding a gudgeon to the species tally. After a few minutes the paternoster rod bounced in the rest again, but then fell still. Twenty minutes later I wound the rod in to find that I'd been robbed and had been fishing with a bare hook, but soon had another suitable bait, dropping this one a bit closer to the willow. Had a flurry of perch on the float rod and it looked as if a shoal had moved in, so when the other rod suddenly ripped off I thought I might have caught my target. 

I soon had that idea dispelled as a spotty torpedo started tearing around the swim instead. What was interesting was that he was accompanied by a much smaller pike that stayed so close to him during the fight that I thought I'd somehow wrapped him up. However, as I drew his companion over the net he turned on his tail and disappeared. Quickly removed the size 6 single from the corner of his mate's mouth, let him recover in the net for a bit, then slid him back a little way upstream. After that commotion the swim died off for a bit, but then the dace moved back in and it was back to a bite a chuck again. Popped the paternoster out near the willow again but this time I barely had time to pick up the float rod before the bite alarm burst into life. 

Wound down not to feel the head banging of a decent perch, but the mad acceleration of jack again. Bullied him into the net - he was shorter but fatter than the first one - got him unhooked and popped him in upstream. When I turned to face my swim the bigger pike that I had first seen when I arrived was back. This time he just sat there and it took a poke with with landing net before he begrudgingly sidled off once more. Didn't bother putting the paternoster out again - there didn't seem much point with so many pike about - but carried on trotting away until it was too dark to see the float. Lost count of how many fish I had, but a single, greedy minnow took the species count to eight. Packed my own gear up and then went and filled the shopping bag left by the morons with the rest of their crap. 

As I passed my fellow angler I could see he was down at the water's edge with his rod bent over. Duly responded to his shout of "can you pass me my net please!" and then watched him play out and land a decent fish. In the net the hoped for barbel transformed into a chub knocking on 5lb. My companion had also packed up and was literally going to reel in when he had the bite so rather than mess about getting scales out I took a few pictures for him instead before he popped it back. 

Was pitch black by now but I managed to get back to the car unscathed this time. Purchased two fish suppers on the way home to placate the wife and round off the day nicely. We'll have to see what the weather does now, but as I write this we've had at least two hours of thunder and lightning and heavy rain. Bye bye summer!

12/09/2024 - Trotanostering, River Soar

Had our third trip of the year down to Slimbridge in the van last weekend to meet up with friends. The campsite is right next to the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal and whilst I'd taken some lure fishing gear the conditions on the saturday morning were too perfect for paddle boarding to ignore - completely still and with little or no flow, despite the heavy, overnight rain. 

Therefore had a very therapeutic paddle up to Splatt Bridge and back, the canal like a mirror and not another soul about - bliss! At one stage I passed over a shoal of bronze dinner plates, lazily finning just below the surface with the odd one rolling and breaking the greasy surface. Had a thunderstorm and more heavy rain overnight, but generally the weekend was pleasant and mild. In contrast the drop in temperature during the week saw me putting on long trousers for my early morning walks for the first time. 

It also started me thinking about some autumn predator fishing. Therefore got work out of the way by late aftrnoon and headed over to Kegworth to see Scott in Soar Tackle for a pint of maggots. Had a quick chat about how he'd got on in the Nationals before heading down to the river. With time ticking on I quickly got togged up and started walking upstream. When I left the house the weather forecast had said that it would be dry the rest of the evening. However the black clouds ahead of me looked decidedly dodgy and made my decision of heading out with just a fleece instead of a waterproof coat seem a bit foolish. Crossed over the lock onto the island and up to my usual swim below the weir. 

Not having seen any other cars parked up at the bridge I was surprised to come across a chap sat in the first peg. Turned out he wasn't fishing and was just checking out the river (and just about to smoke the fat joint he'd just rolled for himself). Might not have been his first as he was keen to chat whereas I wanted to get to my swim. After a few minutes I politely made my excuses and carried on up the bank, although I was sure that I'd see him again. Set up the rods and then lowered myself down the bank with the rope, just as the first wafts of skunk drifted upstream. Plan was to fish the float as normal, but then put out a paternoster for the perch at the tail of the swim once I'd caught a suitable bait. 

First cast the float disappeared and a small bleak was swung to hand - perfect perch fodder - so the paternoster went out straight away. Carried on feeding and trotting, quickly adding dace, roach and a few wasps to the tally. As I thought, it wasn't long before my new friend appeared behind me asking me how I was getting on. What with the noise of the weir and concentrating on hearing what he was saying I missed the first run on the perch rod, finally registering that the bite alarm was bleeping and turning round just in time to see the rod tip violently bouncing and then fall still. Once my companion had returned to his pitch I wound the rod in to find that the bait and my chance had gone. However, soon caught a replacement bleak that was swung out onto the edge of the slack water downstream once more. 

Was a fish a cast on the float rod with a few small chub and a gudgeon adding ot the species count and was in the process of landing a hand-sized perch when the bite alarm on the paternoster went off again and the line pulled out of the clip. Unhooked the perch and got him back as quickly as I could, but when I picked up the other rod and wound down there was nothing there and the hook came back bare yet again. Was getting a bit frustrated as there were obviously fish there, but soon had another bait out on the spot. At this point the heavens decided to open and I was forced to retreat as far under the bush next to me as I could to avoid getting a soaking. Fortunately I could see blue sky following, although it seemed like an age before I could emerge from my temporary shelter. 

The dace had muscled everything else out of the swim by now and I was just lifting one out of the water when the lillies in front of me erupted as something made a unsuccessful attempt at snatching it off the hook, leaving a swirling vortex behind them. Wasn't long after that the bite alarm again signalled interest on the other rod. This time I was straight onto it and had the line out of the clip before the fish. Fed some line out and then wound down to feel a bit of weight. From the way that the fish then charged around the swim it was obvious that it wasn't my intended quarry. Wasn't surprised therefore when feisty jack, neatly hooked in the scissors by the size 6 single, rolled into the net. Decided to end the session there - it was raining again and I was getting a bit cold and hungry, plus I was getting concerned whether I'd make it back up the bank. 

Managed to do that okay, but the rain had also made the path along the bank slippy and treacherous, so I was a bit cautious making my way back to the car.  However, still managed to fall arse over tit, my feet sliding from underneath me despite studded boots - not breaking anything but covering myself and my gear in mud! On to the next one....

01/02/2024 - A scrappy Soar session

Fancied dusting off the pike rods, so when I saw that the wind was due to ease on Thursday, accompanied by relatively mild temperatures, I booked the morning off and made the necessary preparations. Was up nice and early and made the short trip down the motorway, the moon setting to my right and the first glimmers of orange appearing to my left.

Bumped my way down  the track to find an empty car park and the river running at a prefect level with just a tinge of colour. As usual, I'd chopped up any old bait left in the freezer and as I walked upstream I flicked a couple of bits into any likely looking spots in the nearside margin. Don't know if this actually makes any difference, but I'd like to think that it puts a bit of scent in the water and stimulates the Esox tastebuds for when the main course arrives a bit later. Got to my starting point around the bend and soon had the rods out - a smelt flicked upstream next to a dead reedbed and a headless joey over against the far bank. Unfortunately the baits had only been in the water five minutes when a double scull crewed by a middle-aged couple came steaming towards me. Had been sat concentrating on the floats, so just had time to jump up to reel the far bank rod in as fast as possible, losing the bait in the process.

In total they came passed six times that morning, which had me constantly on edge, as I not only had to watch the floats but also had to keep glancing upstream and downstream for their next appearance. I was therefore relieved when they finally disappeared back upstream from where they came. With nothing doing after half an hour I moved downstream, again putting one bait in the nearside next to a clump of reeds, whilst the other bait I alternated between the far bank and mid-channel. It was the nearside float that eventually bobbed a couple of times and then lay flat on the surface. When I picked up the rod I thought the bait had been dropped. However, after a few seconds the float started to turn slowly on its axis, so wound down and hit it. Met token resistance before winding what turned out to be a small jack upstream towards me. Could see that he was only lightly hooked and as I went to land him the hooks pinged out and he swam into the net! 

Moved again and as I came around the bend and looked down the long straight I could see that two anglers had set up camp right in the middle of the section and had at least five rods spread out between them, which meant that they effectively monopolised all of the swims that I had pre-baited and had intended to fish. Was cursing my luck as I hardly ever see another angler mid-week, but flicked the baits out again, one down the side and the other over to the boats. Wasn't long before I was spotted by my fellow anglers and one soon got up and started walking upstream towards me. Couldn't believe it when he stopped and leant over to peer at my float in the margin! When he eventually ambled over we had the usual exchange starting with "You had owt?. They'd arrived about an hour after me and were yet to have anything. As we talked his mate came over, stomping past my marginal bait again. 

Chatted a bit longer before they both ambled back to their base of operations. As my near-side swim had been well and truly compromised I lifted the rod to wind it in and found that it was in a snag anyway. Bent the hooks hooks with a straight pull, losing another half mackerel in the process. By now it had turned into a bright, sunny day and I had contemplated packing up, but went back to my starting point instead. The jack I'd caught had been covered in leeches, so I decided to be a bit more active and move the baits every fifteen minutes or so in the hope of dropping one on the nose of a fish. 

Nothing in the first spot, but when I put half a lamprey in mid-channel it must have dropped into a slightly deeper hole as the float was barely visible. When it disappeared completely in the ripple caused by the freshening upstream breeze I let some slack out. However, the float didn't re-appear and I saw the line tightening up. Wound down into another jack as it made off with its prize, although again it was barely hooked when I got it on the bank. Moved 25 metres downstream and repositioned the rods. This time it was the rod down the nearside margin that bobbed and disappeared within a few minutes. As I drew this one closer I saw that it was only hooked by one point of the bottom treble, so bundled it into the net where the hook promptly fell out. Seemed that even when I dropped a bait right on their head they weren't really committing. Made another couple of moves before the lamprey in mid-river shot off, the float shooting across the surface towards the far bank. 

However, my strike met no resistance and the bait came back with hardly a mark on it. That seemed to mark the end of the actionas I failed to elicit any further response. Packed up and made my way back to the car, stopping to chat to my angling companions who were still sat in base camp, where they'd had one jack each. One of them showed me a bait that had been down the throat of one of their fish - a very familiar, undigested half mackerel! Oh well, at least I'd had some fish, but I do ask myself sometimes why I keep going back there given recent results. Perhaps time to try somewhere else.

07/09/2023 - Troternostering in the heat

Summer temporarily abandoned us over the Bank Holiday with some decidely mixed weather in Wales, but it was back with a bang this week with daily temperature records tumbling once again and the BBQ getting a late run out as a result. 

I had therefore been in two minds whether to brave the heat and go fishing, but I had the best part of a pint of maggots in the fridge to use up, so headed over to the Soar for a few hours. Although it was late afternoon the car dashboard readout was showing that it was still over 30 degrees when I pulled up on the bridge in Kegworth. I therefore quickly decided that it was going to be far too hot for the chest waders and that I'd just put on my wading boots and "wet wade" in my shorts. Was a great idea in principle. 

However,  I hadn't reckoned how overgrown the path over the island had become and when I got to my swim my knees and shins were smarting with numerous nettle stings!  

It was therefore nice to eventually drop into the relative cool of the river and get some respite. The level was probably the lowest I'd seen all summer and I could clearly see the bottom with the polaroids. Thought things might prove a bit difficult. However, first trot down along the edge of faster water the float disappeared resulting in a small roach.

I'd brought the perch paternoster rod with me this time, so he went into the bucket for bit later. Added a few more roach, a chub and bleak before deciding to put the paternoster out at the tail of the swim. Swung it out onto the edge of the crease and had only just got the line in the clip when the tip banged down as the bait was quickly taken. Turned out to be a little jack that must have thought that he was a salmon judging by his subsequent airborne acrobatics. As I drew him over the net I saw that there was a larger pike shadowing him. 

Whilst his smaller companion shot off like a scalded cat when I popped him back, he just sat on the surface eyeing me up and holding station with lazy movements of his fins. Expect if I had put on another bait and dropped it on his nose he would have taken it as well but I was after different prey, so waited until he'd drifted away before putting out the rod again. Carried on trotting, getting a bite a cast and adding several gudgeon and perch to the species count. Was interrupted by the bite alarm a few minutes later, picked up the rod and briefly felt the weight of a fish before it spat the bait.This came a bit beaten up and missing a few scales but alive, so was put straight back out again. The perch on the float rod were now up to hand-sized, so suspected that one of these had been responsible. However, the next time the float disappeared I hit a much better fish that made a couple of breaks for the far bank and then dogged around a couple of rod lengths out. 

Eventually caught sight of it in the clear water and saw it was a decent stripey. Looked nice and fat when I got it in the net,  but it didn't have the length, although at 1lb 9oz it was nice fish nonetheless. Whilst I had no further action on the paternoster the last half an hour with the float rod was dominated by dace that appeared out of nowhere after being absent for most of the session and when I reluctantly packed up to get home for dinner with the wife the river was alive with topping fish. Unfortunately I had the return trip through the nettles to contend with and despite striding manfully back to the car as quickly as possible I was still feeling their effects the following morning. Lesson learned - it will be waders next time, hot or not!

08/03/2023 - Last knockings?

Suspect the impending weather bomb has scuppered quite a few end of season plans. Snow, then rain and potential for a rapid thaw doesn't bode well for the rivers, but my leave is already booked so we'll wait and see if there's a miracle. 

With Monday and Tuesday out this week due to work commitments and the forecast suggesting snow arriving by Wednesday afternoon I was basically left with a window of opportunity in the morning that I couldn't really miss. Still had plenty of deadbaits in the freezer, so decide to head to the Soar again. Left home in the gloom after gratefully finding the van windows ice-free, but as I got off the motorway and into the countryside I could see frost in the fields in the lee of the hedges. As I arrived at the river a text from the daughter down in Bristol indicated that snow had already arrived in some parts of the country giving things a new sense of urgency. The river itself was running nearer summer level and gin clear, the new, bright green crowns of lilies easily visible peeking up through the mud in the margins.

Therefore didn't feel massively confident, but quickly headed upstream to the first bend. Stuck a mackerel up the near side next to a reed bed and a bluey over to the far margin. Sitting down on the flood wall I glanced at my watch to see that it was bang on 0700 hrs. Was expecting things to be slow, so was therefore surprised to see the far float start bobbing literally nine minutes later. Seemed to take an age to finally make up its mind and head off with the bait. However, when I would down I felt momentary resistance and then nothing. Wound the rig in minus bait hoping it had just been a small one. Stuck another bluey out, but at the end of the time I had allotted myself in each spot - 30 minutes maximum - I'd not had any further interest. 

Wound in the nearside rod to find I dropped it straight into a snag, but after a bit of steady pressure via the 30lb braid the hooks bent out. Unlike my previous trip to the Trent a week ago when not only did I spectacularly blank, but similarly dropped my rig straight into a snag whilst checking the depth in the first swim. On that occasion the line parted with minimal pressure and I watched my float slowly disappear downstream, way out of reach of the landing net. Upon returning home I therefore not only stripped off 25 metres of line off both reels, but also put an extra braid stop below each float. Now I have a spare already on the line should the top one split and come off, but more importantly it means I won't be throwing pound coins in the river next time I suffer a break! 

Moved downstream a few times before the float positioned down the near side against a tiny clump of reeds bobbed and moved purposefully away. Not quite a double, but was a nice fish to start. Gave it a bit longer with a fresh mackerel just in case he had a companion before moving on. With nothing doing after another half an hour I walked one of the rods to the next spot downstream. Turned around to see the drop off on the other rod hit the back rest as something made off with the bluey that had been sat in mid-channel and soon had another jack on the bank. Went to remove the hooks but found they'd come out in the net and that the nasty wire-covered trace disappearing down its throat belonged to somebody else. 

Luckily a bit of gentle pulling exposed a treble that I was able to turn out with the forceps through the gills, so was able to send him on his way with significantly better prospects than before. Re-baited with a lamprey section and moved the rod downstream with the other, again lobbing the bait out mid-channel. Must have dropped it right in front of a hungry pike as the float bobbed and then headed off towards the boats on the far bank within minutes, shortly resulting in jack number three. The odd flurry of snow was now being blown horizontally across the fields by the freshening easterly wind even though it was only 11 o'clock, but I decided to stick it out until mid-day. As it was I only added one more jack, the smallest of the morning, in that last hour. 

Hadn't planned to return to the Soar, so bid my farewell to the river for another season and got home before the snow got any worse. Would like to think that it's not quite all over and I'll get onemore chance to go for the grayling, but that's up to the weather now!

04/02/2023 - Pike interlude

Decided to have a break from the grayling and go and soak some deadbaits in the Soar instead. Weather forecast was breezy, but mild and the river had been running at a stable, winter level for several days, so I jumped in the van and pointed it south. 

Headed to the usual section near Kegworth and arrived just after first light to find that I had it all to myself again. Was glad to see that the beds of floating pennywort, so prevalent before Christmas, had virtually disappeared, seen off by a combination of frost, flood and herbicide applications. Walked up to the bend at the head of the section where I would be sheltered from the wind, at least for the start of the session. As on previous trips, a few chunks of old, freezer-burned mackerel were scattered in the margin as I went. Once in my starting spot I popped a joey down the nearside margin and a bluey over to the far bank, the first time I'd tried the latter as bait, and settled down to watch the floats. 

Briefly allowing my eyes to wander, I watched a little egret flap upstream and then saw a male sparrowhawk carry out a low level bombing run over the river, hopping over the flood wall at the last minute and scattering a flock of pigeons that had been quietly sat on the lawn of the house opposite. After about fifteen minutes I was just thinking to myself that I'd not yet failed to catch in this particular swim when I saw the float down the nearside disappear. Was a bit confused when I picked the rod up to find an old, sodden reed stem hanging on the line and thought for a moment that it had caused the float to sink. However, when I flicked it off the line the float failed to reappear, so I wound down to feel a satisfying weight on the end. 

This one put up more than the usual token resistance and gave me a bit of a runaround before sliding over the net. On the scales the needle bounced around the eleven pound mark, so gave myself 10lb 14oz and added it to my short list of rare Soar doubles. Gave it fifteen minutes more before making my first hop back downstream. Once again it was the mackerel in the nearside margin that wobbled off first. However, I failed to connect with anything on the strike, although the bait came back with deep slash marks down each side. Popped it back into the same place hoping something would have another go at it and saw the float dip and start to move off about five minutes later. 

This time the strike connected with a more modest, but extremely greedy specimen that coughed up a piece of my prebait and a half-digested sardine in the net. He'd also suffered some tail damage in the past that had caused a section to weirdly grow much longer than the rest. Popped him back and gave it another few minutes before again leapfrogging into the next spot downstream, where yet again it was the mackerel down the side that did the business with another jack. He'd thoughtfully left me the bait in the net, so I hooked it back on and dropped it in the same spot. Was fiddling around wondering why I couldn't get the line to stay in the clip of the drop off indicator when I realised that the bait must have been taken as soon as it hit the deck! 

Had only just banked the culprit when the drop off on the other rod hit the back rest and after a bit of juggling I ended up with two jacks side-by-side in the net, with the second fish taking the bluey that I'd re-positioned in mid-channel after a barge had passed through. Thankfully both were easily unhooked and quickly sent on their way, although it took a bit longer to sort out the resulting mess and rebait both rods. Despite that five minutes of madness I had nothing more from the swim, so moved on again. The river was getting a bit busy by now and I had to play hokey cokey with the rods to avoid barges, kayaks and rowers. Added a micro-jack and another better fish that missed the ten pound mark by a couple of ounces before I decided to pack up and head home for lunch. 

Have got my eye on a difference section of the river for my next pike session, although there's still also more grayling, chub, perch and zander to consider before the end of the season!