stevetheangler

Wednesday 4th September 2013 saw Liz and myself heading out to the banks of the Severn at Blackstone, near Bewdley, on the BAA administered stretch there. Arrived around 0815, fished until 1530.

River was low and crystal clear – and results reflected on our basis for the selection of the swim we fished – ie a swim that we could both fish from, which was probably in the worst spot for actually catching anything being in the probably the shallowist section of the stretch. But I did think that we may get some perch or chub if not barbel.

Anyway, we fished the first half the day with legered meat and the latter half on maggot with swimfeeder. Results on both methods not exceptional with no fish caught, and only the odd tweak of the bait and that mainly on Liz’s rod.

A nice day weatherwise, saw a heron, a couple of kingfishers and a cheeky robin that occasionally sat on my rod and also tucked into my maggots in the box from time to time.

So basically, that was the day! Not a lot to report … and the few photos I took of the robin came out blurred too….

AND … I had intended to go fishing today back on the tench pool but I was very tired this morning and slept in, a decision probably also influenced by the not-so-good weather. I’ll probably head out on Monday now … really want to go to the pool but also want to go dropshotting on the canal too so which will win I don’t know at the moment.

ADDENDUM… actually the day was not without its positives…

1. On arrival at the swim a length of line was wafting from a bush on the lefthand side downstream – presumably lost sometime by an angler in the swim above. The line was quite close to the bank and I was able to cast over it and pull it to hand and retrieve most of it – about 25-30 yards of it actually I would say thus removing one endangerment to the local wildlife. And in an overhanging tree at the bottom of  the swim there seemed to be a tangle of various items of terminal tackle which was in reach of my landing net on its 3 metre pole at full extension – albeit meaning a soggy foot too due to having to lean over from soft mud at the water’s edge. But, as I said, it was reachable and reach I did and retrieved the whole bundle from which when I untangled it I gained: 1 x 1oz cube weight in natural grey, 1 x 1oz cube weight in a speckled green/white enamel finish, 1 x Size 10 hook-barbless with 1 x short Stonfo Bait Holder (*) attached holding 1 x 10mm pellet and 1 x 8mm pellet, 1 x 2 oz open end feeder, 1 x swivel, 1 x swivel with snap link, 2 x leger stops (hard plastic tube/plug type) (**), 1 x rubber bead. Obviously the pellets were slung into the river but the rest are now absorbed comfortably into my tackle box :)

(*) Stonfo Bait Holder – A latex strip with a hole at one end to attach to sit on the hook bend and a bump at the other to hold the bait on. Acts as a ‘hair’ basically. Obtainable in 2 sizes – 18mm and 30mm lengths. See: http://www.pkangling.com/coarse/accessories/product/1207-stonfo-bait-holders

(**) I’ve not used these types of leger stops for a long time – like using split shot I find that they cause too much line damage by severely flattening the line. My choice these days are for the Enterprise Tackle Adjuster Stops (http://enterprisetackle.co.uk/et04-adjuster-stop) which are far far better in my view. In the event of shortage I use a similar setup using a small swivel, a short piece of silicon tube to tightly cover the swivel and a small bead (bead on line, line passed through top eye of swivel then bottom, then back to top and down to bottom, push silicon over swivel. Easy to move on line BUT rubber covers must be removed before doing so ideally to prevent damage due to heat from friction. It also depends on the weight of the leger and the force needed when casting as if you need the double wrap around the central pin (swivel) – quite often for short and/or easy casting then a single pass through top and bottom is fine allowing (a) in the event of breakage whilst paying a fish, the line to pull out easier from the stop and (b) the line to pull through easier on the strike if the lead’s movement is impeded in any way thus cushioning the force and preventing instant breakage.

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2. We actually discovered that the Blackstone stretch is longer than we thought – instead of just the one meadow there is actually a second one beyond it. And there were some nice looking swims in that extra length too :). Deeper and more promising in the current prevailing conditions.