Myself and Kris Ventachellum, a long time angling buddy and excellent all round angler, had arranged to get up at first light and head to the Trent. Kris arrivd at 4.30am and we loaded the van and set off.
Conditions looked perfect upon arrival. Sun had not yet broken the horizon, it was light but slightly overcast, with a light breeze from the west. Excited we set about mixing up the groundbait and getting set up. We were fishing by about 5.30am.
Bream fishing is a bit of a waiting game. Rarely do you drop straight on them so we had plenty of time to set up after initially balling in our groundbait. The mix was the same as used last season to great effect; 30% Big Bream Original, 30% River, and 30% Molehill soil. We were fishing worm or red maggot, with a change bait of either sweetcorn or soaked 8.5mm pellet.
The wind had started to get up by about 6am, and the clouds were getting heavier. No problem for breaming, as some chop on the water and overcast conditions are usually condusive for a good session.
Kris had a bite early on, and almost landed a bream of about 4 to 6lb (always hard to estimate in the water) Got it to the lip of the landing net before it pulled free. A shame but good signs....or so we thought.
I didn't get a bite for about 3 hours, and when i did they were timid bites, not what i have come to expect from river bream who usually bite so positive. By the end of the morning i had had only about 4 or 5 knocks, and i had lost a good fish at range.
Kris did better than me. He landed 3 fish in the morning, and lost a couple more. The biggest landed was 7 1/2lb, and the other two were 5lb and 6lb. A nice trio of fish. By lunchtime the wind had got the better of me. I'd had enough of what was proving to be a gale! (nearly lost my brolly as it got pulled from the ground and almost down river. By 1.30pm we called it quits.
Sporadic bites, cold blustery wind and no fish for me is not a good start to the river season. Nothing like the catches we had last autumn...but then again it is early in the season....there's always next time!
Kris's bream!
No comments:
Post a Comment