Today saw me back on the Bristol Avon at Sutton Benger for
the first round of the North Wessex winter league fishing for Pewsey team 2.
After last week’s practise I was sort of confident I could put a few fish in
the net and help the 6 man team out with regards to points.
This must have been the first time I have fished in a team
for a winter league as I have always gone it alone in the past but with the
chance to get some team fishing under my belt it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass
up and I thank Pewsey & District Angling Association for the chance.
After a quick half hours car journey down to Lynham I seemed
to be the first one there (must have been too keen) but it wasn’t long before
the rest of the team showed. Having paid my entrance fee for the league and
pools for the match it wasn’t long before the draw came around. Having managed
to gain snippits of info throughout the week there were certain areas I wanted
to stay away from and I preferred to be placed below the weir.
With the draw done and Leo Pocock using his magical drawing
arm we were placed on the end of every section which was a bonus. I had drawn
E8 and with D section being from the weir down I was fearful I would end up on
a bend where I didn’t want to be.
With a quick 10 minute ride in the car I was at the stretch,
with kit out I made the 10 minute walk to my peg and noticed I had drawn just
off the bend but in an area which didn’t produce the week before with anglers
packing away and not weighing in. With a slight sigh I started getting my kit
out understanding the fact that I was team fishing and the name of the game was
to put as many fish in the net for points so was determined to give it a good
go.
First mess up of the day saw me throw my keep net out and
decide not to hold onto it, so in slow motion I watched as the whole of my
keepnet hit the water and started to sink slowly. With the bank being 4ft drop down
to the water I quickly got the landing net handle out and prodded around to see
how deep the water was. Another 4ft deep with a slight ledge close to the bank
about 1 ft great I thought so with a quick balancing act I was of the bank and
in the water trying to retrieve my keep net when the ledge gave way and I ended
up to my thighs in water, still got my keepnet back and just about got back up
the bank. Taking my wellies off and pouring out the water you could see the
other anglers going to their pegs chuckling to themselves, oh well.
With me finally settled it was time to look at the swim. It
had a slow flow with a nice colour in it and it looked deep (this was confirmed
when I started plumbing around) I couldn’t really fish down the sides due to
the vegetation and with me being 4ft up in the air on the bank I was sky lined
from the start which didn’t help. I opted for 3 swims a 5m pole line 11m pole
line and a 14 ½ meter pole line right up against an overhanging tree on the far
bank, with the waggler setup as backup. There was a nice gap in the tress just
up to my left which I could have reached with 16 meters but with the rule of no
fishing up stream then it was out (shame as it looked as a good chub holding
area) Looks like I would have to try and tempt them out and onto my 14 ½ m swim
which was always going to be hard as they enjoy having overhead cover.
With all my lines they were 8ft deep so set up a 1gram, 2
gram and 2.5gram Sensas Jean Francois pole float starting with the lightest
float near with the heaver floats moving out where the flow was at its best.
All bulk was set 18 inches from the hook with the plan of changing it as I saw
fit depending on the bites. The 1gram float was fished slightly over depth and
this would be my worm line and wanted the worm planted to the bottom of the
river. Feed for the other 2 lines would consist of lose feeding hemp, caster
and bronze maggot with caster and red maggot being the hook bait of choice.
I did mix about half a kilo of groundbait but didn’t want to
use it unless I was in trouble and the fishing was hard, as even though it does
bring in the smaller fish I was after the larger stamp and plenty of them.
Still with the peg not having much form it was something I had in the back of
my mind that I might end up using it.
With the all in called it was out with the worm on the short
line fed via a bait dropper and a pouch of caster and hemp fed across. My match
started slow with no initial run of fish coming to the net. I managed to catch
fish of all 3 lines in the first hour but it was slow and it seemed the fish didn’t
want to settle, yet the fish I was catching were of a good stamp.
With half the match gone I was getting slightly worried I
was being left behind in the section and with me not being able to see the rest
of the section I opted to feed my groundbait on the short line to see if I
could get the fish to move in and settle. This brought a quick run of fish before the swim died yet again. Still with
the odd fish coming from the other 2 swims and the odd fish of the waggler I
opted to put my 16 meter section on and try and push the rig further towards
the far bank over hanging tree and let it trot down. This brought a nice run of
5 chublet and a sigh of relief (a few more fish in the net and a good stamp at
that) It was clear to see they had been feeding on my caster and hemp as their
mouths were full of it. With an hour left I noticed one of the anglers to my
left pack up and disappear (at least I wasn’t last in my section I thought to
myself) A few more fish in the last hour and with the all out being called I
thought I had blown it within the section and for the team. With Paul Giddings
on the peg to my right in F section he was admitting to 4lb and I was admitting
to 2lb it wasn’t long before the scales were on route round to me first.
The general feeling was the section had fished poor and most
had struggled and with the scales zeroed it was time to pull my net out and see
what I had. A few eye brows were raised with the remarks “their quality fish”
and considering I had to scratch around to find them I presently surprised to
put 4lb2oz on the scales. With others saying they had struggled I followed the
scales around the section as I had already packed my kit away. As I followed them around it was clear to see
most had struggled with very few quality fish in the net but at the same time
quite a few small fish had been caught. With 3lb11oz the nearest to mine I had
won my section and gained a valuable 8 points for the team. 
With Danny Jones taking F section and the rest of the team
gaining mid section results it was interesting to see where we would finish
overall. Back at the pub and with the scores being finalised Pewsey team 1 had
come 2nd, Pewsey team 2 had finished 3rd and Pewsey team
3 had come joint 4th. Overall a good day had by all with stores of
lost chub above the weir being the talk over a pint. Still a strong performance
by th October.
Before that though I find myself back on the K&A canal
for the next round of Pewsey’s canal championships’ before shifting my
attention back onto the commercials for a day at Willinghurst Fisheries for a
charity Help 4 Hero’s match on the 4th October. Winters coming and things are starting to get
busy.
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