June 2011 - Guest diary Part II by Colin Walford
When I left you last time, I was half way through the month and had had an exceptionally good start to my season! Well, the rest of the month and the beginning of July was just as good for me, and also for John, but he will tell you his tale when he stops rolling bait!
As you know, at the end of the last piece, I was buzzing about the capture of the Peach Common from Sutton 2, which for at least the last year or so, has been my main target fish. With it coming so quickly, and the fact that one of my other targets was a little down in weight, I started to think about a couple of the other fish id like to catch and also as I like to do a little Barbel angling, when I could get out with a bag of the Anchovy and wander up and down the river whisker hunting.
Around a week later I was walking one lunchtime with a view to fishing that evening, when I bumped into my mate Keith, angling in a swim called the Chicken, which is at the end of a small, snag lined and lily covered bay. A chat with Keith and my own observations revealed a fair number of fish present in this area, and although Keith hadn’t caught anything other than bream, I came up with a plan of action for the evening.
The fish don’t usually like to spend the evening in this bay, and will move out as the day draws to a close. The ideal ambush swim to angle effectively as they leave the bay, is the last swim at the mouth of the bay, The Point Swim. It gives you a fantastic array of areas to fish but I wanted to concentrate my baits on the far margin, and an area of gravel two thirds across the mouth of the bay.
Rods and baiting sorted I sat back and let the evening unfold with a brew or two watching the odd fish start to leave the bay. By around 20.30, I thought my chances had gone as I couldn’t see anything moving but half an hour later the rod fish to the far margin pulled up tight and I lent into a kiting fish that immediately felt big.
The fight was unspectacular and soon I had a nice common in the net. A quick look confirmed yet another fish that I hadn’t had in the shape of the Snub Nose Common weighing in at 29lb 10oz. I was buzzing again, and it seemed as though I couldn’t put a foot wrong when a week later in the same swim I had another take from the same spot during a mid afternoon rainstorm. This fish ran me all over the place for a good ten minutes and eventually I steered a great looking mirror over the net cord. I had seen the fish roll during the fight and had a fair idea of which one it was and after whistling up Keith and Kodak to help out, we confirmed I had the Stitch Fish, an absolute stunner of a linear, and one that I really wanted! She was weighed in at 31lb 10oz and plenty of pictures were taken before I gently slipped her back.
What a mental month! It really was going great guns for me, and I guess I should have seen what was coming next! I was back the following week for a full day session and dropped back onto the point. Within 90 mins, the bobbin on the rod on the far margin signalled that something was happening by twitching up and down in small movements and moving slightly from side to side. Straight away I knew I should be picking the rod up, but for some unknown reason I didn’t and I left it alone, expecting the bobbin to pull right up and give me better indication. Well, stupidly I did nothing until 2 hours later, when I awoke from a snooze to find nothing had happened. I knew that I had been done on that rod, and when I picked it up to reel in to check, found that the lead had been moved around five yards! I was a little bit gutted at the way I reacted to this bite, but soon realised that I had learnt a valuable lesson. Not all takes are the same!
After that episode, I needed to get away from Sutton and arranged to go Barbelling with my Dad. I can’t name the river or the area we fish on as it’s not fair to the existing members of this particular club. I got John to roll me up a kilo of 12mm Anchovy’s and knocked up a little bit of my ‘special’ ground bait. Well the first trip was a right result for me and I ended the evening with 3 Barbel, 5lb 8oz, 9lb 8oz and a monster and first double for me at 13lb 7oz! Simple long hook links, a small open end feeder and double 12 millers wrapped in paste had done the damage and I left the river absolutely buzzing, looking to get back as soon as possible!
I did return the following week and nicked a 2lb Chub before upping sticks and mooching off up the river to see if anyone was in the plot were id had the three barbel the previous week. It was empty, so the same tactics were employed again, and around 40 minutes of being in the swim, the tip hooped round and I was into another whiskers! This one went 7lb 12oz and was in beautiful condition! I was well made up with this again, and was well pleased that the baits were working for the barbel, not that I thought they wouldn’t!
I love fishing full stop, and using a quality bait makes it a little bit easier when I’m hunting either carp or barbel, so don’t forget, tell all your mates. Keep the pictures coming in, I know that July is a hard month for captures, but keep trying, I know I am! I have a few trips to Sutton planned and will start thinking about my next target fish, The Unknown, a pukka looking mirror that I hope has put on a few pounds! I will let you know how I get on in future diary pieces, and will finish off my wishing you all good luck over the next few months in your angling!
Until next time........
Good luck and tight lines...
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