Yesterday I went for a few hours to try and bag a load of perch at a favourite spot, its been very hit and miss this year. I was hoping things had improved as its been awhile since Ive been there. The water clarity was good and things were looking up, first cast i could feel lots of little nips which was pretty much the story of the session. The area was packed with both fry and very small perch, i went through just about every lure and size and still they wouldn't take confidently enough.
I saw some fish rising so switched over to the fly rod and managed to save the session with a few roach, most of a small size but a few better ones mixed in that i didn't photo. It was great fun on the dry flies, the water was that clear and the with the sun light, i could see them coming up and sipping the flies down.
While i had the fly rod set up i thought I'd try a few bead head nymphs hoping to tempt the little perch and for a moment i thought i was going to bag up as a few little stripeys obliged straight away, but it soon dried up. A good little session on the flies in the end.
Today I had more time to fish so thought I'd go try some spots abit further away i hadn't been to in awhile. The rivers had filled up with colour with the heavy rain, but it ran off really quickly and the very next day the rivers were surprisingly clear, well there was abit of colour but it was clear enough to feel confident of catching.
I was mainly fishing small cranks in water likely to hold chub or trout, to be honest it was chub i was more interested in but i wouldn't turn my nose up at a trout. I fished about an hour and a half before i finally got a take, which turned out to be a modest chub after initially thinking it was a small trout. I was happy with that and it was in mint condition.
I kept seeing things moving on the rocks out of the corner of my eye, but every time i looked i couldn't make out what it was, finally i happened to be looking at the rocks when a little millars thumb came right out of the water climbed up a rock and sat there looking at me! It was having a little bask in the sun, i was very surprised as i didn't know they did that, especially coming out of the water. I saw a few doing in the end so it wasn't a one off. The little chap even let me gently pick him up for a photo.
I went on to take a couple of chublets from the same swim before it all dried up and i was ready for a move, so back to the car and onto the next spot.
I was really starting to enjoy the day now and just love wading in the river and getting that lovely wild water smell up my nose, theres nothing like it!
I was wading downstream in quite a shallow section when i felt a good tug on the line, i knew it was a fish so cast back into the same area. From previous experiences i know you can often get another solid take if it was a shoal of good chub so i was expecting it but still got that big surprise that only chub can give you by the sheer force they take the lure with. A good fish was on and initially it took abit of line, but t soon started to give in like chub do, its a shame they don't fight to the death like trout do as they'd be the best fighters going if they maintained that force from the take. I was chuffed to bits to get a decent one as i love chub fishing with cranks and its really got to be done in summer so there isn't a great deal of opportunity in the year.
Now you know how easy chub spook so i don't always expect another from the same shoal but sometimes you do get them. I cast again to the same spot but nothing, another few casts and then the rod was ripped round once again, this felt a little better and when i got it in i could tell it was but only by a little bit. Not sure whats going on with its eye, it looks abit pop eye but it was perfectly ok on the fish itself, must be the angle of light reflecting from the flash of the camera as it was quite dark where the camera was so the flash went off.
Both fish were in top condition and i was really pleased to have got some more chub. I went on to fish a few more spots but nothing was doing so took one last look at the river before getting out and heading home for a well earned bath, like most chub fishing sessions, they always end up with your arms covered in nettle stings, scratches, fish slime and muck!
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