I missed the opening of the river season as I had various Father's Day duties to attend to. Luckily I did get a decent fishing cap and t shirt so at least I look the part.
Today I was keen as mustard to get out onto the Somerset Levels and catch some Roach, Rudd and maybe a Chub or two.
I was going with an absolute minimum of gear. Just my Daiwa Pellet waggler rod, my fox reel, couple of cheap floats, bit of shot, a few size 14 hooks, tin of sweetcorn and Morrisons wholemeal bread. Oh, and my dinky little landing net I bought a while back which looks a bit like one of those nets you get at the seaside.
My first stop was the drain at Ham Wall Nature reserve. It was in serious need of a haircut both above and below the water. Also the water was running very clear indeed. Hmmm.
After a bit of roving about I hit into a little Rudd which promptly fell off the hook. The commotion killed the swim so I decided to move to a spot underneath the bridge, where the weed growth was much less.
A put in a few scraps of bread and moulded some on the hook. It didnt take long before the float twitched a buried.
First fish of the river season.
These Rudd are in beautiful condition and fighting fit
I wasnt just the fish making an appearance. There was a fair bit of slithery activity with 2 Grass snakes and an Adder showing both in and out of the water.
Bad video of a Grass snake under the bridge I was fishing at.
A good number of Rudd similar to the one above fell for the bread but after catching six or seven it went quiet. They had wised up!
I had a bit of time left and was keen to get a Chub. For that to happen I had to pop over to the River Sheppey, where the blog began!
I pulled up by my favourite little bridge. Hooked on a big bit of bread (I dont find Chub to be delicate eaters). The float trotted away before sinking. i gave a light strike and Chub on, or so I thought...
The battery died giving the shortest video of all time...
I tried getting some selfies with him but it didn't work. In the end I admitted defeat and back he went. I would estimate that he was a solid 1lbs and certainly the biggest Roach I have caught.
I returned home with no Chub but the Rudd and Roach (especially the Roach) had more than compensated. There is something truly special about catching fish on the river. I don't mind fishing the lakes but the river is hard to beat.