Hi guys.
Well the trip down to Hampshire chasing big Roach was both successful and not at the same time! As these things go it's never easy chasing a big fish of any species particularly that of a large river Roach! I left home at 3.30am on Tuesday morning and made the near 3 hour drive down to Christchurch.
I arrived just after 7am after a quick rest break. Amazingly on my arrival there wasn't another angler in sight! I was at first a little worried as the main river was still flooded over its bank all the way down from Salisbury and I thought maybe that was the reason the car park was devoid of other anglers.
As it turned out I walked onto the fishery first one there! I had the pick of swims and chose a peg I'd never been able to get into before due to its popularity.
I started on the float with my trusty 15ft Drennan Acolyte and proceeded to introduce regular helpings of red maggots into the swim. It wasn't long before my first roach was sat in the bottom on my landing net and a bite a chuck started to be the deal for the day.
Every fish I hooked was over 10oz and in fantastic condition. The shoal seemed to be positioned just below me almost mid river under an overhanging tree. The float was working well but I just couldn't seem to find any bigger fish.
I decided at 12pm to make the switch to the feeder after bumping 2 better fish off on the strike. I set up a Daiwa Nzon 10ft with a 1oz tip. This was matched up to an Nzon 2500 size reel with 5lb mainline and a helicopter style feeder rig at the business end. Bait was 2 red maggots on an 18 Drennan red maggot hook as shown in the diagram.
I made a couple of quick cast into the area I had been getting bites on the float to introduce a tighter area of bait and within minutes bites again started to steadily arrive.
By 2pm I had caught around 20 roach to 1lb 4oz and lost one that felt a tad bigger earlier on the float.
I then decided to try just slightly further towards the middle of the river in deeper water around 2.45pm and was instantly met by a bite like nothing else I'd had all day! The tip literally launched around and there was no way you could miss it! I lifted into a much better fish and it gave the tell tale head shakes of a big old red fin.... My adrenaline was pumping and hands started to shake. The fish held deep at the end of the swim and wouldn't budge.
My heart was pounding and I kept saying to myself 'please don't come off!' To say I was bricking it was an understatement! The fish carried on holding deep and then came towards my close bank near some underlying weed, it was then I got my first sight of the fish. It looked big....and it was about to snag itself up! I backed off the pressure slightly and she swam back out towards open water. I then reapplied pressure and got back in contact with the fish. I gently slid the fish up and over the net and nearly threw up! I was shaking like a shitting dog when I saw the size of it! I don't honestly believe I've ever felt so excited about a fish before in my life as I was at that moment.
I left the fish in the net and went to set up the scales and sling before weighing her. I really hoped it was 2lbs! "Please be a two!!!!" The scales went round to 2lb 7oz! I couldn't believe my eyes.... I checked the weight about 3 times in disbelief...I grabbed a couple of quick snaps before sliding back my prize. It was about half an hour before I could then fish again as I was shaking so much from the excitement of the moment! I'd finally managed to two pounder from the Avon after 30 years of wanting one. I felt relieved, excited, sick and just blown away all at the same time. What a fish! I know there's a good head of fish that size and bigger in there but that moment just exceeded my wildest dreams and even now a couple of days later writing this, I can still feel that excitement pulsing through me as the fish went into the net.
I felt like a young lad catching his first proper fish all over again. I fished the swim out till around 5.30pm with another 10 or so lovely specimens coming to the net up to just over a pound and finally losing another good'un on my last chuck of the day to the dreaded weed on my right hand side. With the intention of trying again the following day, I grabbed some more bait from Davis tackle and headed to my mates for the night. A good social was had with friends before another early start on Wednesday morning.
I got to the river around 7.15am to find the car park full and any hope of being in the same swim completely unlikely. I managed to drop in above a nice fella called Nathan and sat all morning without a bite! He did really well on the float catching around 40 to 1lb 10oz but no two pounders.
I couldn't believe how tightly packed the shoal was and as the day progressed I moved around trying to find some more fish. It unfortunately never happened and as the day drew to a close I left on a blank! I couldn't believe it.
Thursday was much the same with a trip to Throop on the |Dorset Stour. I started early around 6.30am and smashed the water to death with the float and 5 pints of maggots without so much as a bite! I tried a move to the lower Beat 3 in the afternoon with much the same results before again leaving on a blank around 4pm. There you go! Hero to Zero, just like that! Oh well, that's fishing eh? I can't wait to get back there to try for another very soon. Hopefully before the end of the season all being well.
I popped into Ringwood Tackle on my way home on Thursday to see the lads for some banter and pick up my Rubans scales that Ash had got repaired for me last summer. The banter flowed and as usual lots of abuse. The scales were perfect apart from a huge cock which had been lovingly drawn on the reverse side of them! I should have known that would be the case!
This Sunday I have a trip planned with my good mate Simon, after a big old Stripey. Fingers crossed the good luck continues.
Tight lines guys.
Keith x
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