“It was bites galore on opening day”
My start to the new season couldn’t have been any better
LAST year, on the opening two days of the river season, my mate Wayne Langston and I headed out on his boat on the Warwickshire Avon after anything that swims.
Armed with an array of methods and rigs, we fished for bites rather than pounds and ounces. We enjoyed the trip so much that we decided to do the same on June 16 this year. And I’m so glad we did, as our 2021 opener was even better.
It’s so easy to get wrapped up in the ‘big fish or bust’ mentality these days and, while I admit I love fishing for specimens, the reason I have lasted in this game for so many years is I still love to just go fishing and get bites, regardless of the size of fish.
So, with this in mind we loaded the boat with mixture of kit which would allow us to enjoy several fishing styles. In went a float rod for silverfish – some of which would end up as live or deadbaits – plus a barbel rod each to fish with a boilie at night, and a light perch/pike rod.
We didn’t have to wait long for the first fish to be recorded and Wayne took roach, small perch, bleak and dace on the stick float with maggots. He even lost a barbel that was just too much for his 1.7lb bottom!
To be honest I had one of the most delightful morning’s sport I’ve had in years, and so exciting, for almost every trot down with a small livebait was met with the big open mouth of a perch. I even had a chub take a trotted roach. I was in heaven!
We did hope for a zander or two from a spot we rarely fail at, but with boiling hot conditions and low water it was always going to be difficult task.
While motoring downstream to another swim we passed a pub, and it seemed rude not to enjoy an ice-cold pint of lager to celebrate the new season.
Suitably refreshed, our next stop was a weir pool, but it only produced one small pike to Wayne, although we did catch some more small fish for baits – and I’m glad we did, for that evening the perch went mad!
I also had an hour on the stick float catching some nice roach, proving to myself that I can still run a float down a river and not just fish with two rods stuck up in the air waiting for a barbel to hook itself.
Stick float fishing is not the best big-fish method by a long way, but it’s a tactic that makes you feel good if you are doing it right. It’s a bit like fly fishing when you’re casting a nice line and the fly is landing perfectly on the water.
Just on last knockings, before slinging a barbel bait out, a lovely double-figure pike made an appearance and boy, did it go, ripping line off the reel and making the clutch scream.
I’m not a lover of pike fishing in warm weather, but I can’t help it if one grabs my perch bait. Wayne helped me get the fish unhooked and back to the water in a very short time and she swam away very strongly.
The barbel fishing was an excuse to have a good kip on the bank under the stars.
After a couple of weeks of sunshine and no rain it decided to rain most of that night, and in a way I’m glad the barbel didn’t feed because I had a lovely sleep which put me in good order for another morning of floatfishing.
Neither of us can wait until the next June 16 to do it all over again, so we’re planning another trip for bites galore next week!
I hope you, too, enjoyed the opening of the season – here’s to a great one for all.