Last weekend, Dudmaston and scratching the Stour.

[barbelblanker]

Saturday it was howling so I went for a couple of hours throwing various artificial plastic and metal things in to the Dudmaston Big pool and getting them all back again afterwards. Was fun. Had my first pike attack on the first cast near some reeds on what I thought was too heavy a lure as I bought the lure up rady to hoof it out again. I don't know who jumped further me or the pike. Held on for a few heartstopping seconds before shedding the hook. Phew! That was great, and almost definately just lost my PB pike. Reckon it wa about 6 , 7 or 8 pounds but it's hard to tell when you don't catch them very often. Well or at all. Good fun but the weather got to me and, although warm, I'd had enough.

Sunday went to the Stour and fishing a variety of pegs starting with my favourite, the bushes swim. Water was a balmy 7.4 degrees so I felt pretty confident and it wasn't long before the centrepin an stic kfloat got a gonk on. First fish of 2012, a one ounce Gudgeon. Ah! Well, I'd have been chuffed with that when I was a kid so , better than a blank. A gusty wind meant the stick suffered a bit at times. After about an hour and a half I finally located what appeared to be the one foot square that had fish in and began to take gonk after gonk till I got bored and decided to move swims.

Up sticks and hopped past two people already on the river, one catching gonks and the other the odd roach.

A brief session in the woods and it was on to the feeder because the downstreamer was just mucking up my avon float (switched as the stick was no good with the wind as it was ). Now the avon was suffering in the strong gusts.

A very brief ip here and I was getting MOVE! messages from my terminally bored brain (don't like quiver tipping when there's float fishing to be had).

Moved again and settled in to a swim with a weed raft on the far bank, roach like cover , well that's my thinking.

A quick cast with the feeder and knock knock knock, end of maggot chewed, no bite developed or hittable.

By now I really was going comatose and it was waggler time.

Set it about 6 inches overdepth with an 8 above the hook length, 6 then 4 then the bulk. Shotted so the tipp dragged down to nearly submerge then the bouyancy lifts it and it all starts again.

Instant results, a rudd , gonk and roach followed before bites dried up a little. Quick tinker with the depth and shotting and it wa catch a fish, change something, catch a fish. Did not catch that many , in fact even this was slow but at least they were coming. Probably only caught three or four roach, a few dace and that rudd (not to mention gonks and a stickle back that didn't so much submerge the float as subtley change it's coourse , I think the maggot mugged it.

It was great though, not least because I ended up with a size 24 hook to buy bites and it was still hard work. Just how I like it sometimes , if you work for the fish I think it's more rewarding when they arrive.

Personally I think a pole approach is the way to build a good bag here and I'm going to experiment with small amounts of groundbait and the pole between now and the close season.

However we are about to move house (again) soon so that might just take me out of the picture for a while. That's the bad news. The good news is we are moving to walking distance from the Staffs Worcester and about 2.5 miles from a cracking bit of canal chub fishing. No more "but I need the car" and a very good chance to get on my bike on the coming evenings and do some late light fish spotting. Can't wait.

[chris.oldgit]

well done on getting out AND catching some of those freshwater mini species, dont think anybody targets stickles any more, the wife and myself won the 'mixed pairs' challenge shield trophy, 2 years in succession, with stickles.

great fun on size 26's and squatts, lol

[SIMPLE MAN]

Well done mate and at least you never blanked