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March 04
(these reports are displayed as most recent first)
31st March.
Wednesday’s weather has been much the same with the wind backing to S.E. light.
Again Peter was out and Frank had a few chores to do and couldn’t make it, I was up to my eyes with a job at home that had to be done so Peter was on his own again.
The fish were still there, mainly Roach, float fishing was the order of the day, at 13ft carrying a Chubber float and Red Maggots on a size 12 hook (bulk shot is better at the bottom all in a lump 18 inches from the hook with a small tail tail shot at 3 inches).
Peter soon got into big Roach with a fish a chuck, this led to the first disaster, he broke the float! The only one he had with him on the bank so he hiked back to the car for a replacement (He’s been using that one for years) off he goes again still catching plenty of fish and broke the 2nd float "Oh my word how unfortunate" said Peter ( or something like that anyway ) and ended changing onto the Lead, this is not the biz for catching Roach so he planted 2 Worms on and sat back, having a rest from Roach, Yes it happened again!! The rod tip bent into a arch, Peter strikes and was into a Good Bream this time the reel fell apart and he had to handball the fish to the net, this was the last straw so he packed up and went home.
I learned all of this at 5pm, so I rushed home for the Gear and got to the swim about 6pm. the fish were still there, a Roach a cast was right and I fished until 8pm with a great bag of fish.
(I must say at this time that none of the Trio uses Keep Nets as this saves damaging the fish)
29th March.
Weather is the Tops, Wind in the S. light breeze, temp.12c River slightly on the drop.
It was Peter’s day of days this Monday, having settled into swim 32 (The Bog Hole) and lit his pipe and sat back waiting for some action, He “Got It”; 27 Bream with a great Bag of Big Roach. The Bream was the best he had for years and ranged for 5lbs. to 8lbs.+ and with the Roach he estimated the catch to be over 200lbs - this all happened from 2 o’clock until 6 pm. Then he filled the pipe, after a hectic 4hrs and headed home.
There was good action out on the Lake Sunday with the Pike boys although the fish were small - 9lbs being the top weight and the odd Trout.
28th March.
Real Spring like day, very mild and sunny, little breeze.
It was my turn today with the Bream and a good smattering of small Roach and Perch and for good luck a Sky Lark made his presents heard.
We did try different swims for a change, Frank and Peter on the lower end, I made my way up to Malady’s above “Red Bridge” here I found that the fish were not in residence so I move downstream trying a few favourite swims but nothing, over in “The Cut” was the same story, I even went to “The Ponds” to see what’s on over there (Nothing). Back into the river passing Peter and Frank who were having a Bad Day, a couple of Roach, Hybrids and Perch between them so I carried on to “The Bog Hole” the first time to fish this swim.
Small lead with red maggots brought bites every cast, so I changed to the float and made good progress with small Roach/Perch. Changed back to the lead for the last hour and found myself into a nice Bream 5-6 lbs. and more Roach which ended the day on a High Note for me.
27th March.
Overcast, No wind, a great day. River in fine condition, after the last week’s rain.
Peter, Frank and myself headed for “The Bog Hole” hoping for better results after a lull in the fish catches. Peter was the first to show signs of fish with a good Hybrid after only a few minutes followed with Frank landing a Hybrid of 3lbs, this looked to be a very good start.
Roach came to maggots as well as Perch (we don’t mind Perch) bites were a bit timid until the Bream showed up, 4 Bream fell to Peter, 2 to Frank, I seemed to be there just to take notes but I didn’t mind I had a few fish.
I did scan the river on the way up and found there were lots of small fish in pockets, which was very encouraging after the last trip. After this session I scanned the river back to the entrance and recorded a huge amount of fish in the lower section heading what I would say upstream.
What a difference a day makes.
20th 26th March
Weather has turned for the worst with North NW winds of Gale force and days of Hail and rain, this added to the rising river have made fishing very difficult, the wind being the culprit.
Peter had been out on the 23rd and fished Malady’s below his cottage for a few hours and managed 2 fine Trout and a Large Pike of double figures on a worm tethered to a 12 hook on 3lbs line. A previous trip out to the same venue on the 19th saw Peter and Frank spending 2 hours in what you could term as a nice day only to find nothing was happening so they returned home to do a spot of gardening.
The forecast for the coming days seems to be a great deal better so lets hope we’ll all be out on the Bank over the weekend.
16th / 17th of March.
Weather on the windy side, but fishable; Temp up in the 12c; Sunshine with the odd heavy shower.
Frank and Peter were off to the river earlier these last 2 days because they can smell Bream, sure enough; Tuesday was a day for the Hybrids in “The Bog Hole” peter with 7 good fish around the 2-3 pound mark and a few Perch, Frank fished at “The Gravel Bank” where he was delighted with his few hours, 5 Hybrids, small Roach and of course Perch; wind was a problem this day but it was warm wind.
St Patrick’s Day 17th brought me out to launch the boat and attend to the moorings etc. Peter and Frank rushed by; you could smell the Rubber!!
After I fixed the ropes and things,
I made for the “Swims” Number 32-33 in the boat, complete with the
sounder full on, not too much to shout about in the way of fish on the way up.
Within 100 yds of the boys I noticed Frank was leaning into a good fish so I
made for the bank and tied up and walked on to where Frank had netted a Large
Bream 6lb+ only to discover that Peter, complete with a large grin on his face,
had slipped another Bream back into the river and swore it was bigger (he
would) - this was the 4th Bream of the session and the Last.
It must be the
Dog or me that put them off!
Wonderful spring Bream caught by
Frank.
I did set up after all the excitement a little upstream off of the old reeds where I found plenty of small Roach and Perch which was good enough for me, this should have been a Float Job but I only had the Feeder Rod and it's 12ft deep here. I had a few hours here and was pleased, so I said bye to the lads as they left me to it and moved into Peter’s swim to find it was devoid of life, back down towards the Mouth I tried several spots but alas it was no good.
Two English lads were Piking from a boat after coming off the Lake, they managed a Pike of 7lbs which made their day and a very Spring Like day it was.
8th / 14th March.
It did change around “But” it brought the worst conditions of the Winter; Snow, Sleet, Rain and freezing temperatures up until Sat 13th Sun 14th
Not all bad news at least it put some well deserved water in the river, the winds have veered to SW/W over the last 2 days with the temperature around the 12c mark it felt like summer and there’s more to come according to the Met boys.
No anglers out this weekend because of the wind out on the Lake, but Peter Wood managed to get in a couple of hours Sat. Fishing in his only Spot at this time of the year “The Bog Hole” (now swim number 32 - that’s been my task over the last week, making number plaques for each swim and a Map to be displayed in Paul & Deirdre’s B&B to aid anglers and to bring attention to where the fish are over the Spring/Summer months at the lower end of the Inny. See river map ) anyway back to the Plot... Peter fished with a small lead baited with Worm/Maggot allowing it to swing around in a better moving river, he didn't have to wait too long before he was into good Hybrids all around the 2-3lb stamp, four fish came to the net in a flurry of excitement over a few minutes which lead to Bigger and Better fish, Bream... yes! Bream, 9 of them fell to the same bait and tactics all within an hour, and then as soon as they came they disappeared, probably upstream.
Frank having returned home on Friday needed to rest himself after a hectic sea crossing so he missed out on the sport, as for myself I also missed out but things could be on the move.
No pictures of course, Peter is not into Diggi Cameras, 'too high tech' he says - but he threatens to fish again midweek, so lets hope he and Frank repeat the same sport on a rising river at last.
1st / 7th March.
Weather much improved with lots of Sunshine throughout the day but still frosty nights, wind still coming from the North with a nasty chill to it.
Peter and myself had a trip to the
river, Thursday 4th, for a few hours fishing at “The Bog Hole” here
we had to sit face into the wind which was not the best of positions, still we
made the effort.
I managed to find a couple of Hybrids and a Perch;
Peter came in second place with 5 bites (no fish);
So I became 'Man of
the Match' for the first time this year.
Sunday 7th great weather wind from the North once more, river much down in water level for this time of the year (2 feet at least), there was a good turn out of anglers for the Pike / Trout with 5 boats occupied only to suffer the mercy of the wind, with 1 boat landing 3 small Pike, 1 boat with our man Derrick on board to land a good Pike of 10lbs and the remaining boats drew a blank.
Frank dragged himself from his Sick Bed and shot off to the mainland for a break with his parents to return next week hoping for better “Tales from the River Bank” the forecast is for the winds to turn back to South / South East so that might make a difference.
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