Bristol Avon? Good Looking River...but.....

[Catfish Virgin (Still!)]

I managed to drag myself away from the monster Chub of the Dorset Stour for a weekend on the Bristol Avon near Chippenham. I met up with Steve, who some of you met at the recent Zander Meet and Andy (top angler and talks for England!)

Driving west on the M4, the temperature was looking quite mild and registering +4 on the car dial. But turning off at Jct 17 it dipped to zero and then -2. It became very white outside.

Arriving at the venue I was faced with a good looking river but the surrounding countryside was coated in a thick frost:



Several layers of clothing later I crunched my way downstream to see what this fine river had to offer. Some swims looked really good but one or two snags were evident. Do you trot a float to the left or right of the tree??



After much indecision and pacing up and down (mainly to keep the circulation going and attempting to get warm!) I settled on a likely looking area just up from a typically English country church:



Now, I wish I could tell you I had a netful of Roach and Chub or at least a couple of new species for the "hunt"! But that would be a lie.

It was a tough day, made even tougher by the fact that the river looked in such good nick! We all struggled. I did get a couple of small Chub and some tiny Roach but they were very few and far between. Steve did manage a 1lb+ Roach and 2lb+ Chub well into darkness but I was on my way to book in at the B&B by then!

Saturday night in Chippenham is an interesting place!!!

We managed to hijack a table at a local Chinese restaurant and probably paid well over the odds as a result! Adjourned to a local pub full of good natured but noisy rugby fans....."got any Sambuca landlord?"..."No, we've only got Tequila"..."That'll do!" After a pint or three we made our way back to the B&B to "talk fishing".

Sunday morning, awake nice and early and..........even heavier frost!

We were joined on the river by Wendi, Jeff and Paul, so that made six of us to do battle with the elements. It was even harder than Saturday! Jeff did get two nice Chub, Wendy a small pike and missed one and Andy had a little Chub right at the end. But it was really hard. My total was a 12oz Chublet and about 6 small Roach!

But we were treated to a stunning sunset:





Fishing wise, we've all had better days! But the weekend was a good laugh and a pleasure to spend time with like minded people.

We will return, but not next weekend.....I'll be on the Stour, Chubbing!!!

[Greenheart]

Some stunning pictures there Neil. It's a pity the Avon was'nt fishing as well as it could, but it sounds like a good time was had by all. Better luck next time.

[Norfolkboy]

Shame the fish weren't playing ball Neil, but sounds like you had a good day anyway.

[pingu]

stunning pics, and sounds like the social made up for the fish

dave

[Fishing Forum Admin]

cracking read and sounds really hard going but thats fishing at the moment

[Twiddler]

Shame the fishing was hard but knowing the Spillers and Andy, the social made up for it.

Looking forward to meet you at the Stour next weekend...let's hope I can get a good size chub and maybe....just maybe a bertie too

Some cracking pics, looks really inviting, even with the ground frost

[Portland Pirate]

I think that you just summed up fishing in your report.
So you didn't catch but you had a good time in fantastic surroundings with some mates.

Pictures are fantastic. I just wish I could have been there.

[silverfish]

Sounds like a great trip mate.Great pictures.All the best marty.

[BaggieRich]

Nice report Neil. Sounds like a hell of a way to spend a weekend, even without many fish.

[Steve Spiller]

Nice one Neil, I didn't realise you took so many lovely pics.

It was a very tough weekend, but the company made up for the lack of fish.
Next time I will try to book better fishing conditions for us