Diary of an average angler

Arrival time: 10.00
Weather: Chilly with low cloud cover and complete absence of wind.
Tackle: Korum 10ft 'All Rounder' 1.1lb TC, Shimano ST2500FB baitrunner, small bomb leger, 6lb line to size 8 eyed hook..
Baits: Bread flake & cheese paste.
Fish: One decent chub.

My plan was to go to the tip of the Triangle section and fish the crease between the main flow and the outflow of the lock cutting and mill stream. I had been successful with this approach in the past. On this occasion the main river flow wasn't all that strong, meaning that there wasn't actually a well defined crease. Whether this influenced the fishing it's hard to say but there was certainly no immediate action.

After a few casts with a groundbait feeder and bread flake I had not had any indication of interest, not even from smaller fish attacking the flake. As I've mentioned, there wasn't really a discernible crease and after a while I tried casting more into the main stream. I also changed the feeder for a small bomb and explored the far bank with cheese paste. I had intended to stick it out in one spot for the session but after nearly two hours without a touch I decided that it might be worth a move.

I debated whether to go back to the car park and fish the pool area, where I had caught a bream on a previous trip, or go over to the mill stream. In the end I plumped for the mill stream as stream fishing is always my preference.

On arrival the stream was showing clear signs of the effects of the recent flooding. Reeds in the actual stream had been flattened and the 'hot' swim by the bridge certainly didn't look that hot on this occasion. So I walked along the stream hoping to drop in one or two swims and perhaps bag a chub. But this plan was soon to change when I came across another angler in the first spot I had hoped to fish. I walked a bit further and decided to settle in a swim just upstream of where low tree branches were across the water.

There were a couple of other fishable spots but neither looked that appealing so I decided to sit it out with the hope that I could entice a chub, thinking that there might be one or two under the overhanging branches. Normally I don't stay in a swim for more than about 20-30 minutes on the basis that if a chub is there it would take fairly quickly, which has always been my experience in the past. But this time I played a waiting game.

And it was quite a wait but after a fair number of casts, each of which being perilously close to the overhanging branches, a chub finally went for the cheese paste. It felt a good fish but soon weeded itself and everything went solid. I suspected that it had got into the bankside reeds, a typical chub tactic. I had just started to prepare to hand line when the fish moved off. After that the battle was over and a nice chub came to the net with weed around its mouth, indicating that it had buried itself in the bottom weed rather than the reeds.

I really didn't expect a second fish but, there again, I wasn't hopeful at one point of getting the first fish. But I thought that there was a good possibility that it wasn't the only one in the swim given that chub usually are found in small groups. So I persevered for about an hour and a half but couldn't tempt another. One fish was, however, more than acceptable in the circumstances and it taught me that I should perhaps give each swim a longer try in future, and that my usual assumption that the fish would take fairly quickly obviously doesn't always apply.