This river Piking on the Bristol Avon is really scratching my itch.

Another lovely Winter afternoon on the Bristol Avon. Travelling light and covering ground. Armed with a bunch of gaudy red and black streamers Red and I continued to explore the middle reaches of the Bristol Avon. It was my turn today with two jacks in the 3-4lb range and both had signs of larger predator damage. They were caught slowly retrieving along the margins of rushes on an intermediate line. Again the weir pools did not produce and the fish showed in those sections with a reasonable flow and depth. Relatively mild and dry with a glorious sunset at 16:30.

Winter Piking on the fly

Red and I met up on the middle reaches of the Bristol Avon to continue our learning curve into the world of pike fishing on the fly. I have to say I am beginning to enjoy it more than lure chucking: one because you are so much in contact with the fly, and two because a well tied fly looks so damn irresistible when its drawn through the water. I had prepared well having tied my own creations and set up my own traces as opposed to buying the expensive creations in the shops. In fact I think a good set of mackerel feathers with a bit of extra bulk would do just as well as some of the £4 flies I'd seen! On to the river and the Bristol Avon was fairly low and wadable in places which made it nice. We walked a good few miles casting in likely lies. Persistence paid off as Red hooked his first Pike and it was on the fly. A nice little 4lb jack that gave a good account of itself on his standard reservoir trout outfit with a small streamer pattern. Red was well made up and I was pleased as he would now been keen to keep me company through the winter months while we wait for spring. A very enjoyable afternoon in the Avon valley even though I didn't get a follow or take.