I go straight downstream to my favourite spot - The Pylon, for I have a cunning plan I want to execute on this, the last opportunity to try something different for the Chub. Today I am going to start off bolt-rigging with a lead-clip and a new rig, but the important aspect to this method is the very tight line I intend to keep. As soon as the fish hits and moves the lead I want the compression in the tip to help drive the hook home. This is an old trick from carp-fishing; I wonder if it will work?…
I start off with some new cheese paste I bashed up during the week. Two sorts of cheeses and loads of garlic granules mixed in giving it a lovely cheese and garlic combination. I am confident in this and feel it aught to catch fish.
It doesn’t. I sit in the swim for over an hour staring at the tip with nothing happening at all and decide to revert back to fishing ‘light’ and make up a little link ledger with just one SSG shot, a short piece of fluorocarbon, and a small swivel. I can add shots if I need to.
I have changed the tip of the ‘Drennan Acolyte’ to 3 ounces. I did this because of the constant tip movement in the current last time and I see that ‘false’ tip movements are massively reduced. I think this has more to do with the fact there is less water in the river today than previously and a much lighter tip would have been more appropriate. It’s at home however and I can’t change it.
The change to the lighter ledger however has brought the odd snatches but these are extremely shy and my attempts at striking at them prove fruitless. I persist in the swim however, feeding the odd ball of cheese paste every now and then. Despite all my best efforts though I give up and try other swims upstream.
There are other anglers on the river today, all getting a last session in before the season finishes and I see that someone at the top of the stretch has caught a lot of Dace and Perch on a block end feeder. Although this is an effective method of catching in the river it is so non-selective and does not suit my purposes in targeting a big chub. Eventually I end up in a swim I have often walked past but never fished.
Today, the water is so clear you can see the bottom from one bank to the other, but in this swim the water is deeper and this is not the case. This tree hangs out over the water and I figure it just might harbour a chub.
I swing the one swan shot ledger out into the flow and it swings round nicely under the branches downstream and immediately I start getting little rattles and shakes on the tip. A shoal of Dace is in residence and they are hitting the paste ball with a vengeance; fortunately, the big number six hook prevents any of them from being hooked and disturbing the swim.
These knocks and rattles finally stop. There is a pike about! Small fish skitter about upstream and the odd larger swirl appears out in the current. I keep meaning to bring the drop-shotting rod and if I ever come back to the Stour again I think it will give some variety to the day on the river.
Finally, the sun goes down behind the trees. The temperature drops. The birds go quiet. The chatter from the students on the opposite bank intensifies as they go about their meanderings, in and out of the student accommodation building. Not only the day, but the season for me has ended.
I pack up and walk back to the car, wondering whether I shall be back, for next year I have applied to a club that has a stretch of the upper Medway where I am assured the chub fishing is excellent and the river superb.
My thoughts are now with Roach and Carp.
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