Diary of an average angler

Arrival time: 10.30.
Weather: Much milder than of late with warmth in the sun and a gentle breeze.
Tackle: Drennan 1¾lb TC 12ft 'Specialist Barbel', Shimano 5000 RE baitrunner, 2SSG link, 8lb line to #8 eyed hook. (Tackled up for small stream chub!).
Baits: bread flake & cheese paste.
Fish: One bream.

Having been away from the water for almost three weeks I was keen to get out, even though recent heavy rain was affecting the rivers - again! I missed a perfect day the previous week when the rivers had fined down but I wasn't feeling up to going. It turned out to be a last minute decision on choice of venue as I compared the water level data on the government web site. In the end I opted for Offord as it was the only one of three possible choices that was not showing rising levels. It also offered some choices if the mill stream proved not to be fishable.

I was tackled up for the Trout Stream, which is heavily weeded and where I had lost a fish on a previous visit. My bait choices were bread flake or cheese paste, again reflecting my original choice of venue. So I headed for the mill stream hoping for a chub or two. The stream was very coloured and running high but it appeared fishable. I decided to seek out what few slacks existed, starting near the road bridge which is a known chub haunt in more normal conditions. I hoped the chub may have moved into the few small slacks near the bridge but nothing turned up.

I moved upstream a bit and fished a crease between the faster water near the far bank and a slack eddy by the near bank. This was probably the most settled spot on the stream and I was hopeful that fish might have taken refuge there. I had a few taps on bread flake but nothing really positive. After a while I concluded that it was probably smaller fish nibbling at the flake, since it always came back smaller than when it was cast. A change to cheese paste didn't produce a touch, which sort of supported my 'small fish' theory.

Having walked the stream I decided to dip into a few places where there were small slacks by the far bank and try to feel bites while the flake trundled through the slack. I tried three or four spots but didn't detect any interest. I also tried casts close to the near bank where the flow was a bit less strong but this approach didn't attract anything either.

I gave up on the mill stream and decided to move back to the Car Park Pool for a couple of hours. The Pool is the calmest water on the complex and I had caught a bream there previously in high water conditions.

I started by fishing near the road bridge where it was possible to cast to where the very strong flow coming down the main river merged with the slacker water in the pool. I thought that perhaps chub would be present, picking up food coming down the main river while keeping in the slacker water of the pool. The idea was good but no chub obliged and I kept getting snagged on old dying reed beds.

Casting a bit further from the fast flow didn't produce any bites either, so as a last resort I cast towards an overhanging tree nearer the bank. I was actually reflecting on the fact that I was heading for a blank when a small pull on the rod tip resulted in me hooking a heavyish fish. It didn't have the power of a chub but felt quite bulky, and when it quite quickly came into view it confirmed my suspicions of being a bream. But a reasonable bream of 4lbs 6oz.

It was a really welcome surprise and for a while I hoped that I could catch one or two more. But the heavy chub setup wasn't really suitable for registering bream bites and I missed the next one. I should have set up a bobbin but thought about it too late. Still, I was more than pleased with my one bream as it saved what was shaping up to be a blank.

Perhaps one day I should go back to the Pool and actually fish for the bream with appropriate tackle and baits.