Dark Shadows In A Small Overlooked River
With the temperatures reaching high 20's myself and Richard had planned to target the carp and bream on the estate again, aiming to pop baits up over the weed beds we anticipated the fish being high in the water.Waiting for Richard on Saturday morning i took the opportunity to have a look at a small river only a matter of meters away from where we have previously met up on numerous occasions to go down to the lake. Peering over a small bridge into a deep, the sun cut through the water and there was no need for polaroids. The dark shadows of chub were instantly recognisable, watching the fish move out into the flow, angling their bodies to maneuver themselves to into a position to intercept flies and other natural baits being carried in the current. I scanned the channel and more chub kept appearing, all cruising against the current at different depths, some of them were real lumps.
Prizing myself away as Richard arrived we went down to the lake to pre-bait with 10kg of particles binded together with pigeon conditioner. Leaving the swim to rest i mentioned the chub i had been watching and we had a wander to 2 swims witnessing more smaller chub, moving in and out of the streamer before we returned to the bridge i had been watching the big chevins. sqeezing bread crumb together into large flakes we soon had the competing for the free offerings and the temptation to wet a line got the better of me. Setting up with a single Size 6 Pallatrax hook tied onto 12lb main line i moulded large pinch of bread crumb around the hook, leaving the point showing. Approaching the bank nearly on all four's i cast into the channel loosing sight of the bait instantly, with Richard crouched over the bridge he signaled to twitch the bait along and when he gave me the nod to strike i did, feeling the weight of a good fish instantly, charging in and out of the streamer weed the fish was soon on the bank and what a gorgeous fish of around 3lb for a small over looked river. There is something very special about big chub from small rivers, the art of stalking them in an intimate venue where the fish detect any movement on the bank, shadow cast onto the water or disturbance whilst casting a bait this can sometimes lost on big rivers such as the Trent. What was clear returning the fish back to the swim was that all the disturbance had sure enough caused enough commotion to spook them off.
Returning to the lake that evening we witnessed a huge bream rolling on the surface, probably the best indication of where the fish were feeding in terms of depth, but never the less we popped the baits up over the weed, but they received no interest through the night or Sunday morning. The only other fish i saw was a very colourful mirror rolling on the surface before disappearing beneath the bow wave it had created. With the temperature rising again we called it a day around 11pm and went for another wander on the river to see if we could find more chub in alternative swims. We found several groups of smaller fish and noticeably the bigger fish were very wary of our presence and soon found cover under dense overhanging trees, before we had chance to cast to them. With the weather expected to stay like this for the next could of weeks chasing more dark shadows in small rivers might be the best chance of a decent fish or two.
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