Meff Tea

A little late with the write up but I managed to get back to the Dove last Saturday.

4.15

EA river levels said it was somewhere in the middle of what we would deem normal, so off I set arriving at the river 12.30 midday-ish.

First thing, the entrance to the car park was a state. Mud, and fairly deep water covered in ice, the grass has been torn up a little too, so a bit of nifty driving gets the car to the ‘solid’ area. Great, well until I have to get out, but we worry about that later don’t we? The fields had large areas that were still underwater, thankfully though the ground had been frozen so the mud/wet wasn't as bad as it could have been.

The river although ‘normal’ was much higher than I’d have liked, and the swims I’d caught from a few weeks previous seemed to be flowing far too quickly for my liking.

I chose about 4 marginal crease swims somewhere near half way down the length, baited them all with a handful of mash periodically and fished each in turn over the course of the day.

There was not a lot doing it had to be said. It was cold too, very cold late afternoon in fact, not helped by the fact I had my summer bib and brace on, instead of the heavier winter version. So for the large part of the day all I had to keep me going were a few ‘possible’ plucks each of which turned into precisely nowt.

However as is often the case, when the light level started to drop around 4pm I had a definite pull round which resulted in a hooked fish. A good scrap and I netted what looked like a very decent lump. A five plus looked to be on the cards however the scales said 4.15. No matter, a great result on a cold day.

Walking off to the car park was a hoot as well. I decided to cut across the fields, got totally disorientated in the darkness and found myself walking about 120 degrees the wrong direction. I had to stop, gather my thoughts, go back to my swim and start again. Fantastic scenes.

Arriving home I had the ultimate Saturday night meff tea courtesy of 'Dee Aldee'! Aldi spare ribs, Aldi chilli flavoured doritos, Aldi St Etienne lager followed by Aldi almond chocolate, a taste sensation!

The following day I decided to spend a few hours on the local. Arriving at 2.30pm the first cast produced a 12oz'er on flake, things looked promising so I stuck at that swim for another hour, sadly nothing else came my way so I then moved into one of my so called ‘banker’ swims going into dark, now renamed to something else as I never got a bite here either.

Roland

There was still plenty of water in the river despite being back in the EA 'normal' range. A bit gutted nothing else showed up however the resident Rolands turned up in their droves to keep my on my toes after dark. I called it a day about 5pm. 

Three PBs in 24 hours

A planned trip to the Dove saw me and Hannibal arrive at 10.30. 

A Fingeo

The plan was to bounce around a few swims near the car park, eat at the car and then make our way downstream for the afternoon, it being some considerable hike to the extreme downstream limit. The session started as planned, we fished a few car park swims for nil bites (not planned) then after a few butties made our way downstream to get a feel for the whole stretch and visit a few swims Hannibal had never seen before. 

We settled into a nice glide which gave me a nice grayling on bread and at 2lb dead a new pb as well. Not truly deserved as I was after chub, but a fish is a fish. Thereafter we bounced around a few more swims to the extreme downstream end for little else. 

Just before dark then settled into a big bay right on a sharp bend for the last hour or so. We gave it a few casts but it just didn't feel quite right so after a little recce we hopped upstream a few hundred metres or so to another nice long glide. After 30 minutes or so I nailed a 4lb'er on bread flake,

4

 Hannibal had a result also latching into a 5lb 4oz fish, his second biggest chub and a river pb.After that we headed off,  negotiated the fields in the dark and got back to the car without too much mither, all good.

Hannibal 5.4

Saturday. I'd been promising my daughter (aka Pest) a trip to the local, and despite her having a bit of a cold nothing was getting in her way so we toddled over the river at 3pm. She's a left hander so we couldn't really share a rod, so today was about her fishing with me being the ghillie and giving her the best chance to nail a chub.

I was a bit gutted to see the river quite heavily coloured after the previous night's rain but nonetheless we chose a comfortable swim relatively free of bankside cover to make life a bit easier for her reeling in and started off with bread and cheesepaste on the hook and liquidised bread through a feeder.

There were plenty of taps and plucks and a bit of striking practice was needed as she missed a few bites, albeit tentative ones but at least there were a few fish knocking about. Anyway at about 4pm she strikes and hooks into a decent fish and we managed by hook or by crook to get it into the pan, with rapturous applause from a gathering of passers by on the footpath opposite. 

Pest .. PB no 3

A fish of about a pound and a half was the result and the 3rd PB I witnessed this weekend.

Last week's excuses.

Last weekend was a frustrating one...

4.8 Dove

..car trouble put paid to my regular Sunday afternoon foray, this was doubly frustrating as the day previously the Weaver looked great and I'd had 2 fish in 2 casts from my first 2 swims. One fish being a nice three pounder in a swim right next to a busy footpath. Settling down into a new swim at twilight I realised I'd left my tackle box at home including isotopes, spare hooks, hook lengths, the works. I'd arrived at the river with the rod banded up, literally took it out and started fishing. I'd not needed anything in my box for the first hour, so without realising just continued fishing, until dark, when the penny dropped... gutted. This weekend of woe resulted in me rearranging my gear (yet again) this last week and relegating the tackle box to the 'baitbox corner' of the garage. Instead I've now saved space and lightened the load a little by utilising the pouches and various pockets in my bait bag, so hopefully no more forgotten tackle.

This weekend saw me decide to fish the River Dove for chub so mid Sunday afternoon I made my way down the A50. Two cars were in the car park upon my arrival which is quite unusual, but my chosen swims were unaffected. Using bread flake and cheese paste on the hook I cast out to the edge of the flow and had several unhittable raps in the first swim, eventually nailing a grayling on bread flake. I also drew a blank in the second swim which is in very close proximity to the first. Both of these swims have quite large slack areas closer in and have given me decent chub sport in previous years.  I think that perhaps they are better for chub with more water on and I also think I gave each a little too much time, but hindsight is wonderful.

Swim 3 however did give me a result. A few handfuls of mashed bread and my first cast using bread flake saw the tip fly round after less than a minute with a chub if 4.8 in the net shortly after. Three quarters of an hour later at about 4.45 I had a second fish, this time a 3pounder. Another chance came my way after dark when a tightening of the line around my finger resulted in a bite which literally pulled the tip round by about 2ft, I struck and missed, how does that happen?

So, no excuses this week, back on the Dove this Friday all being well.

A result on the Dove....at last

I had more time than usual today so decided to head off to pastures distant!

4lb 7oz

I have a bit of a love hate relationship with the River Dove! In terms of aesthetics it's the Avon of the north in my book, and is a stunning setting, but on the other hand, man, I've had some serious blanks there!


Today I arrived to find some snow still present in shaded areas and the shallow areas showed not a lot in terms of water colour. I started off in an area I'd caught chub a few years back (whilst barbel fishing) fed a bit of mash and had three quick casts varying the lead size to try to find an area that a fish might be hanging out! On literally my third cast the tip has flown round and I'm into a fish, however I've allowed the fish to gain some momentum and it's got up a head of steam and done me in a snag, the hook length and hook have both come back, hook pull! Gutted! I'm too used to catching 2lb splashers on the Weaver, a decent fish and some proper flow has caught me with my pants down, Chub 1 Cardo 0.


I then fed a bit of mash and moved to the next swim. Again, first cast, fish on! The fish has tore off like no chub I've ever had before. It went downstream under one tree then has done a total U turn, at which point I thought it had come free, then all of a sudden it's 10 metres upstream and under my feet,  2 lb. 15 oz. One all.

U Turn

Next swim I'm in again, this is getting daft, three swims three bites, I've not had that many in my last three sessions here. A fairly straightforward scrap and a 4lb 7oz chub is in the pan. At this point I moved away slightly from the 'hot area' and had an hour on some relatively open water however this just didn't feel right and I decided to head back to the swim where I'd started and landed a scraper 3lb'er. Another move gave me a 3.11 and other than a 2 foot twitch late on that I missed, that was that, a fabulous day!

Snow.

A hard day on the Dove

A planned 2 days on the Dove couldn't have happened at a worse time thanks to the elements.

River Dove

Although the level and colour looked decent enough, a ferocious wind and rainfall to match made the planned mobile tactics very difficult, so I elected to stay put in one swim. Hannibal had already landed a fish of 3.12 before I arrived so with the state of the river things looked hopeful.


Having tried the bread feeder and lead for an hour I then went onto the centre pin and fished bread flake down a long glide hoping for a chub, sadly non obliged but I did land a decent trout, which after some juggling Hannibal finally managed to get a pic.

Juggler

Sad to say, but no more bites or indications were forthcoming for either of us and at 17.30 we called it a day.


The following day was to be a repeat, albeit on a different stretch but the river rose sharply overnight and I really didn't fancy my chances so decided my efforts would be best served on a river with a lower level, hence I made my way back to my own patch.