NO BETTER PIKE WATER IN THE LAND!
Chew will bounce back after a slow start
ON THE mend now from the bug I picked up in Thailand – but I’ll not be kissing any more fish in a hurry! Here’s how my week went...
MONDAY
Spent the day around the house and garden sorting out my wife Margaret’s to-do list before winter sets in. Keep the missus happy and you’ll be a happy angler!
Then down to the pub where I met my mate Ray Cutler for our weekly chat about, you guessed it, fishing! Ray and I have not fished much together lately, going our own ways with different species, but we are getting our heads together with a plan to catch a monster chub or two.
WEDNESDAY
A great guide day with a chap from down south by the name of Paul Wilkes, who wanted to go chub fishing.
I took him to a lovely little river and he caught 11 chub to 4lb 7oz on bread. He was over the moon and so was I – it was great to see the tip go round so many times.
THURSDAY
Drop shotting on a local water for a few hours before dark and I caught three perch and a carp – fair and square in the mouth! It weighed about 5lb and it wasn’t the first I have caught on a lure. This one fell to a small glowbait worm and fought well on light gear.
I didn’t do much drop shotting last year because I felt ‘perched out’ from the previous four winters, when I did at least three evenings a week. But that year off has recharged my batteries and I can’t wait to get on the bank again with my little perch rods and reels.
It’s a special moment on a winter’s evening when the wind drops, wood pigeons and crows come down to roost and you get that knock on the tip of the rod as the perch gives its first indication that it’s going to take the lure.
Tonight I caught nothing big, but that will change as the water gets colder and clearer and those perch start putting weight on ready for spawning in the spring.
FRIDAY
Back again after perch, and although I had only one fish it was a decent one. It wouldn’t have weighed 2lb, but it was a young fish and a grower, which looks good for the future of the water.
I left before dark for my live Facebook show at 7pm which I do most weeks unless I am away fishing. It went well, with plenty of good questions, and over the next few weeks I have some real good guys as guests.
SUNDAY
An early start for my piking day on Chew with John Chester. I was excited because there’s always a chance of a monster, especially with John showing me the way with his knowledge of the lake.
The fishing so far this year has not been so good but, let’s face it, up to this point it’s not exactly been ideal pike conditions, with very warm temperatures for the time of year and bright sunshine.
Some anglers say the piking at Chew is past its best, but that’s been said before and it has bounced back. I reckon Chew is the finest pike water there has ever been in the history of the sport, and although I’ve fished it only a few times I’m honoured to have caught some of its beautiful fish.
As expected, the fishing was slow. John pulled out of one pike and I had a fish I did not weigh, but it was a nice fat healthy one as the photo shows. Still, it was a good day on the water – John and I talked about our planned trip to Holland, again for a monster perch, and as an added bonus it was wonderful to watch the delightful birdlife on Chew at this time of year.
Brexit was mentioned, but when I explained that I didn’t give it a second thought and I was only concerned about my next run on a smelt I think John gave up on me and went back to talking fishing!
After a hard day’s piking and mooring the boat up I bade farewell to John and then followed brothers Mark and Paul Golden back to Bristol, where we stopped for fish and chips before joining the M5 and saying our goodbyes. They’re two of angling’s good guys I have known since they were kids and it was a nice end to a nice day.
There is something magical for me to be standing outside a fish and chip shop after a day’s fishing, far from home with a few mates and a bag of steaming hot fish and chips or a kebab – travelling anglers will know what I mean.
By now it was 17 hours since my alarm went off. I was knocked, to say the least... a nip of whisky and a shower and I was off to bed.