River Great Ouse - Offord (55)
You can view the video on this page or open YouTube by clicking the YouTube icon above.
Arrival time: 09:00.
Weather: Bright start clouding over later with rain. Troublesome upstream breeze.
Tackle: Greys 14ft Shimano match rod, Shimano Exage 1000RC reel, 5lb line, 3.8lb Supplex hook length to a 12 eyed hook.
Baits: Maggots, worms, and sweetcorn.
Fish: Dace, roach, rudd, small chub, bleak and perch.
Following significant rain I decided to go back to the Top Stream at Offord hoping that the duckweed would have been washed through. Unfortunately while there was water running out of the Top Stream over the small weir, a bank of rushes had blocked the flow of duckweed. This had resulted in a blanket of the stuff backing up, which was covering the swim I fished last time. I settled in the next swim along, which I had fished in the past. Expecting some early bites from small fish, I was disappointed. In fact I had to work hard to catch a few little ones.
The nearside margin where I had hoped to catch perch was dead. Casting out about midway into the channel where there was a bit of flow started to produce bites. The first fish was a dace. This was followed by a very small roach and a not much bigger rudd, and then a small chub. I finally caught a small perch by casting further towards the far bank. And there were bleak of course !
The upstream breeze was troublesome and as it strengthened it started to push the duckweed towards my swim, helped by the fact that the slight flow had weakened. These problems caused me to move upstream to the next fishable spot.
The swim
Click on image to open Lightbox
First fish - a dace
Click on image to open Lightbox
A small chub
Second swim
Landing the best perch
Best perch
Having moved the surface there was clear although I couldn't pitch my stool in the limited space, so I sat on my unhooking mat on the edge of the footpath. It wasn't that comfortable.
Much like the first spot I was getting occasional bites in the stream that were difficult to hit. I decided to try casting to the far side margin where there was a decent flow near its edge. First cast resulted in an almost instant bite. A bit later I struck into what felt like the first decent fish of the day. It was a perch that wasn't anywhere as large as it felt, but compared with what had gone before it was certainly a step up in quality.
Another perch followed but shortly after a sudden downpour sent me for cover under my umbrella, while rapidly gathering the camera and other non water resistance kit. The rain was heavy and passed quickly but the clouds threatened more. Indeed just as I finished packing my gear in the car it absolutely poured down, lasting far longer this time. Packing up had certainly been the best move.
It was another disappointing session with far less fish activity that I expected. But I caught a few fish, including the perch that fought far harder than its weight would have suggested.