One River One Pool One Over

I've joined another club with a stretch of the river Anker! *Rolls eyes*

At this rate I'm going to have to hire labour to work for me when the mandatory work parties come around!

This stretch is further downstream again, on the outskirts of Tamworth. I'm applying the loose theory of 'the further downstream the better' in my search for an elusive Anker barbel. I ran my thinking past someone with far greater local knowledge than me and it got the thumbs up which was good enough for me to roll the dice again.

I got amongst the spring-like festive weather and made it out for an afternoon whilst the river was up and tea-like.

I started by walking the length of the stretch and scanning the river. The push in the middle was fierce in places so I was on the look out for laminar (or smooth) flow towards the near bank, preferably with some cover thrown in to boot and oh yes a defined crease - I'll have one of those too please.

Half a dozen or more spots fitted the bill in some shape or form and so once at the bottom extent I put my rod together. Tactics were simple - break a few boilies up and scatter them into the selected area then follow in with a butterflied boilie (for scent) on a running ledger rig light enough to bounce slowly down the run.

As the session wore on and I remained wrap-around-less I was adding a sliver of garlic soaked chorizo to the hook for added olfactory pull.

I was methodical but slow in my progress back upstream. Only once casting perfectly into a tree and having to set up again.

As the sun started to dip I fancied settling in to the likely looking spot I'd arrived at next. In went a pint of hemp and I upped the weight of the ledger to 2ozs to pin it to the deck. There were plucks at the tip here and my sausage sliver was coming back skinned so there were small fish around, but once again the waiting game had more time on it's side than I did and I left buoyed at the stretch yet blanking. 

Here are some photos;

If I may digress here; it's not escaped my attention that there are a distinct lack of photographs containing fish in recent posts, this one included! I want to reassure you that I do occasionally catch something and less frequently than that something worth photographing. I've fished for enough years now to fish, if not with complete confidence, then always with hope. You never do know exactly when that tip might wang round or the float might dip but if you've seen it happen before then you'll always have that hope. Until then please enjoy the ride, and can I see your tickets please? Off at the next stop then. Fare dodger.

My second trip of the festivities was a return to the golf course after perch. It was as the weather was cooling and it really was a stolen couple of hours. All rather rushed I fished floats with worms and caught chub, some nice roach, perch to about half a pound and two carp in a frantic end to a dusk session. All executed in the tightest tree-lined peg I could have chosen. 

Those few fish were enough to sate me to try again refreshed for something less forthcoming.

And finally, on New Years Day I had a work party for one in the back garden where one tree was felled and a second pruned back. During the ensuing bonfire I not only set fire to my arm hair, twice - standard - but also managed to set alight my beard which went up with rather an alarming sizzle.

Until next time...