Monday, 19th October 2026, and I was to head to the Worcs Stour at Stourton (BAA waters) again.
Having got up at 0515 I was disappointed to be greeted with a quite heavy drizzle after the last weather forecast I’d seen predicted a dry bright day … however, rechecking the forecast it then showed that the day was brightening up from around 0900 … so thought I’d set off at 0800 and by the time of arrival things should be improving and that I’d have a bit of a leisurely breakfast before leaving the house, so a silver lining showing.
Breakfast partaken, the forecast was now showing the brightening up was to happen earlier … so I Google’d for another forecast site and found a real time one (BUT I didn’t save the URL for future – will have to delve into my Chrome History to refind it!) which was showing the rain band moving across quite quickly and to have passed by 0800 … so 0715 I was out of the door and on my way…. :)
There was actually very little rainfall on the whole journey, and although a couple of road works were encountered enroute they did not greatly impede progress and I arrived on the parking area probably around 0750.
Lightly encumbered of tackle – one of the joys of small river fishing – I was quickly down to ‘my’ swim – where a decent flow was in progress, quite coloured and a small amount of autumnal leaves were floating down the current.
The swim is actually at the bottom end of a right-to-left bend and a bush overhangs from the opposite bank and I usually feed and fish just off that bank and just short of the bush although sometimes the midstream and down the edge of the near bank are good ‘change’ locations BUT with the stronger flow and the flotsam/jetsam coming on the flow that was building up on the line quickly those two alternatives were tried but found to be difficult and so I stuck to the far bank/bush option for the session.
Tackle throughout the session was my 11’ Grandeslam ‘Des Taylor Avon System’ . fitted with its lightest tip … 8lb mainline to a quick change bead connected to a 6” 8lb hooklength and a size 12 Kamasan Animal (barbless) hook … and a sliding 7g cube lead completed the setup.
Bait throughout the session (excepting last cast of the day which was made with a small section of raw king prawn) was worm (dendro) with the hook tipped with a couple of maggots hooked in the centre to prevent loss of the worm. Swim fed with catapulted maggots (dead and live) throughout the session..
First cast at 0815 …. all quiet, not even the usual shy twitches that usually commence from the start and remained so for the next 30 minutes leading to suspect a blank session ahead … but a nice place to be especially in the blue skies and sunshine now arrived.
0850 … rod sweeps round into an arch … the lifting of the rod meets resistance … and a minute or so later a 1lb 12oz chub arrives into the net … hooked towards the back of the mouth I then discover I’ve lost my forceps that usually hang from a pocket of my waistcoat :( but I do have my disgorgers so all was well and unhooking, weighing and photo all done with a good time… however, dunno what went wrong the photo didn’t ‘catch’ on my mobile ?? :(
Oh well … not a blanker! And a decent fish at that…
Rebaited … recast ….
0900 .. again rod takes up a curve … another feisty chub of 2lb 2oz comes to hand… and camera deigns to record it LOL!
Rebait – recast …
0930… rod goes again … a bigger fish! A 3lb 1oz chub…
Chub – 3lb 1oz
Then a quiet hour – time for a coffee and breakfast bun….
Another angler turns up and sets up downstream of me…
1030 … the tip quivers … a strike … a perch of around 6oz-8oz…
1300 …. another perch comes to the net … a better one of 1lb 1oz ..
1330 … a twitch .. a strike … a roach of around 12oz
After that the next hour was quiet with just a few mini-twitches and at 1420 I made one final cast with a piece of prawn and with no action shown to it I decided to head home… happy with what was a great day for me.
INCIDENTALS
Unhooking… as I said my forceps had gone missing and I had to use a disgorger something I don’t usually have need to fall upon. And I had a bit of a panic as the disgorgers I had with me – a set of 3 that sit in a casing that looks like a large one – didn’t initially appear to contain the type that I use… I find those that terminate in a short tubular section with a slit up the length don’t suit my handling and often not suitable the size of hook in use due to the restrictions of the cylinder diameter being to small to accommodate the eyes of the larger hooks
My preference is for the type that terminates in a circle with a slit halfway down…
… as I find them far easier to handle PLUS they will accommodate most hook sizes…
Anyway, it turned out that I *did* have the requisite device – just that it was different colour to the one in my other identical set that is in my usual bag.
And I’ve now procured 2 new pairs of forceps – 8″ and 5.5″ :)
PLANS
Not sure at mo … various appointments over the next week or so have to be taken into consideration… but we’ll see :)
