River Dove - 09/03/2011

First of three sessions lined up this week. A quick afternoon perch fishing trip to the Dove. Unfortunately the weather wasn't exactly inviting. Cold with a strong, gusty wind and a smattering of rain. Walked across the field to find the wind blowing straight down the river. Luckily there was enough dry land at the bottom of the bank for me to get down out of the worst of it, although the swim still resembled the North Sea!

My float's in there somewhere!

Float fished lobworms over some chopped worm and dead maggots in a small slack downstream. Hadn't had any indications after an hour, so shallowed up a bit to let the float swing in closer to the bank. First trot down it seemd to do the trick, although not the species I was after. The float bobbed and held an inch under the surface. Wound down and immediately felt a dead weight on the end that I knew wasn't a perch! The fish kicked a couple of times, then let me draw it upstream without any fuss. Didn't have the protracted tug of war as last time and after a couple of half hearted runs it was in the net, a scraper 10lber that looked oddly familiar. Checked back on the photos on the camera to find it was the pike I'd had a couple of sessions ago!

Likes lobworms!

Fished on for another couple of hours without any further interest. Was chilled to the bone when I got back to the car. A quick stop at Hatton Fish Bar for a portion of chips helped put that right.