13/03/2012 - River Dove

Met Tim in the carpark at Tutbury after work for what would be a final fling on the rivers. Perch were the quarry and we headed to a stretch that had been kind to us in the past. Whilst I would be floatfishing lobworms over maggots, Tim had brought his lure rod to see if he could put his newly-found dropshotting skills to good use. River was low and clear and it soon became apparent that it was absolutely snided out with minnows. Right from the off, the float was constantly on the move, pulling right under as the little beggars tried to pinch the worm off the hook. Tim had a follow early on from a pike of about 8 lb, but failed to tempt it into taking the lure, so headed off upstream. I carried on trotting the loborm down the crease and letting it swing into and hold next to the bank at the bottom of the swim. After a few trots down, the float disappeared for what seemed to be the hundreth time and stayed under. This time, rather than fresh air, the strike met with firm resistance. The head banging indicated that I had a decent perch on and I soon got sight of it in the clear water. A couple of minutes later I had a nice, fat Dove perch in the net that went a pleasing 2lb 6oz on the scales.

Fatty

Took a quick snap of it on the weigh sling, popped him back and got a fresh bait out in case he had any of his mates with him. Unfortunately, it was back to the attentions of the minnows instead. Tim reappeared a bit later with a dry net and the news that none other than the great Bob Roberts was fishing just upstream. He then returned to his original swim, where he eventually wangled a little jack. I carried on for a bit longer, before snagging up and losing my end rig. Took that as a sign that my river season was over and packed up!