With Liz away in Great Yarmouth for the week I decided to have a couple of sessions – one on the River Severn, the other back to my usual haunt at the club’s Mike Day Fishery on the tench and bream pool…

Session 22 – River Severn, Ladyham. BAA Stretch Near Stourport (2024-09-19)

So I arrived on the banks of the Severn here around 0730 with no cars on the banks at all and so had my pick of swims. I elected a peg about halfway along…

The river here is slow flowing and well known for bream, and in the winter, pike. Barbel do turn up here occasionally albeit not a stereotypical barbel water.

I fished one rod – a Ron Thompson 3.60 metre ledger rod with a quiver tip … don’t ask me what rating the tip was though as IMHO it matters not – a quiver tip is a quiver tip and as long as the current doesn’t bend it full belt then it’ll do me :)… My line was my usual 8lb BS leger line … Daiwa Hyper Sensor … with 8lb braid hook length to size 4 hook variously baited throughout the day with meat, bread and work … and a cage feeder was employed to deposit enticement around the fishing area.

After 6 hours without a single tap on the tip I headed home …

I’ve fished this stretch three times now … and still awaiting my first bite! Sill as you can see the scenery is quite pleasant and I watched a group of 5 buzzards circling the woods for an hour or so, two of which were practising their swooping on each other.

Session 23 – Back On The Pool (2024-09-21)

So my next outing – as it says on the tin – was back to my usual haunt, the club’s tench and bream pool arriving at around 0730. As usual I was the first on the pool although later in the day another couple arrived.

Setup as I’ve been currently doing – legering just off the opposite bank’s lily pad patch. 8lb main line and 8lb braid hook length, size 6 hook baited variously with worm, bread and meat and fished with a 15g bomb on a 4” running link. Loose feed consisting of dead maggot, wheat, barley, rice, hemp and other grain was catapulted in. Bite detection via bite alarm and bobbin.

Well, it was a quiet start … first (and only) bite coming probably just before 1300 but it did result in the capture of a 3lb 10oz tench…

Next cast unfortunately saw me cast about 6” too far and catching on a liy pad from which there was no escape and eventually broke off.

I retackled but as I needed to shop on the way home I had to pack away the gear at about 1430 and wend my way home without further action.