Yesterday, having done a deal with Stewart of Davies Angling for a gallon of casters, I decided to have a day on the river Kennet. Gluttony caused me to stop at Max’s cafe in Padworth for a spot of breakfast and when I arrived at the Dalston beat my favourite swim was already taken. I went upstream onto the bottom of the Warren beat and went exploring, determined to fish somewhere different. I found a swim a hundred yards above the bailey bridge that had been recently cleared of undergrowth on the inside of a bend. On the far bank planks of wood had been used to shore up the bank against the current and there was a smooth glide of about thirty yards downstream, ideal for float fishing.
I wasted no time in putting in two pints of hemp and caster mix with a bait dropper on the edge of the bushes that over hung the shoring and started to set up two float rods. As roach and dace were my primary quarry, the first rod I set up was the Drennan stick float rod, my lightweight purist with two and a half pound Beyer Perlon line and a six number four shot wire stemmed stick float. I rarely use an ordinary stick float on the river Kennet as most swims have a little turbulance due to the lack of depth and I tend to bulk the majority of my shot (or use a small olivette) rather than use the “shirt button” pattern.
The hook was a size twenty Kamasan B510 to one and a quarter pound line on which I would fish a single caster.
I then set up a heavier rod, the Harrison Interceptor float rod with an Adcock and Stanton centrepin reel loaded with six pound Drennen Float fish line with a five pound hook length and a size 12 Drennen Super spade hook. The float was a six BB wire Crystal Avon float with an olivette a foot from the hook.
Whilst setting up this rod I started loose feeding the swim with hemp and casters every couple of minutes and continued to do so for ten more minutes while I set up the landing net and sat and had a smoke. After loading my bait apron with hemp and casters I waded out about a third of the way across and ran the stick float through the swim three or four times without any bait to get an idea of the geography of the river bed.
Finally I was satisfied with the way the float was travelling down the swim and I knew where the shallower parts were located where I would have to hold the float back to lift the hook over to prevent the float being dragged under. I buried the hook in a single caster and made the first trot down behind a small hand full of hemp and one of casters. I always throw the casters opposite me and the hemp a little downstream as it sinks much faster.
About a third of the way downsteam the float buried, my strike was met with fierce resistance and the familiar head shaking that told me I had hooked a chub. This fish bolted straight into a gap in the shoring boards on the far bank and rubbed the hook link against the edge as it went. The hook link parted and it was time for a tactical rethink. I continued feeding while I replaced the hook link with one of two pounds breaking strain and substituted a heavier guage hook. The next trot down produced another chub about three pounds but I was ready for this one and applied side strain immediately after hooking it, forcing it onto mid river away from the gap in the boards.
At this stage the chap who had cleared the swim suddenly appeared, startling me with his stealthy approach. He had come to reap the fruits of his labours. His name is Chris and I was reluctant to move after the bait I had already put in, but he was very understanding and wished me luck as he left to find another swim
I continued to fish the swim for the next hour and a half catching an assortment of small dace and roach but no more chub. Two is often the limit for such a shallow swim since the streamer weed has gone. I then decided to rest the swim and went upstream with the heavier rod looking for some of the big perch for which the stretch is renowned but float fishing with the tail end of a lob worm produced only a two pound brown trout.
On my return I continued the feeding pattern while I had a cup of tea and was soon thigh deep in the river again doing what I love best, trotting a float. The float had just reached the bottom of the run, about thirty yards away, when as I held it back hard it, it disappeared. My strike was met with a run across the river at great speed and the fish, with only shallow rapids downstream of it, then ran towards me. I wound quickly to keep up with it and maintain a tight line and was nearly caught out by the old “turn back the other way” trick.
A steady pressure soon brought the fish up stream and into the landing net, my prize was an immaculate barbel a little under a pound which had given the light line and stick float rod a thorough workout. After another rest period combined with regular feeding I put four casters on the size twelve hook on the heavier rod and after a couple more trots I hooked a larger fish, again at the bottom of the swim. This proved to be another barbel of about five pounds.
Later using the same set up I took three more chub from a pool beyond the downstream rapids, none of which matched the size of the first one I caught.
I later moved venues and fished a couple of hours into dark with the remainder of the hemp and casters in a feeder but to no avail. A good days sport doing what I like best.
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