Dabbling with fishing the Bristol Channel at Littleton-on-Severn

James and I have embarked on some shore sea fishing on the Bristol Channel just 20 minutes away. Something I have always wanted to try but I have previously avoided as a dark art. The thought of lots of new rigs and tackle to understand, the challenge of getting fresh bait and the timing of visits to make the most of the tide has to be honest put me off. However a bit of research and minor investment in some entry level kit has opened the door. The guys in Veals of Bristol were of great help.

We have now conducted 4 trips and I am glad to say none have resulted in a blank. Our visits back in October were relatively balmy days at Littleton-on-Severn (Whale Wharf to be exact). Ideal tides seem to be between 11.5m and 13.5m arriving to fish 2hrs before and leaving 2 hrs post high. It is silt with very few snags the only issue is traversing the salt marsh mud below a metre high grass verge to get distance on the cast. First visits saw mixed results of a schoolie Bass on float fished ragworm that was intended for the Mullet in the small wharf, some tiny Whiting on flapper rigs baited with ragworm and a nice Conger of about 5lb on squid.

 

As the Winter has moved on we have caught a number of Codling most returnable but the odd one large enough to take home for tea which has been great. The bigger fish seem to fall to the bigger baits and generally taken the defrosted squid. Smaller fish are constantly tapping on the ragworm but are unable to shift the 5oz leads. The larger Cod and Conger produced slack line bites indicated by the rod straightening on the rest.  

Still new to this discipline it is nice to build knowledge and understanding. Points of note have been: that casting distance has not really had a significant influence over success; carp rods have landed the biggest Cod and the Conger however clearly they do constrain casting distance with large leads; sea reels are required to ensure rapid retrieve to avoid snagging; its best to leave small taps as the fish will either hook themselves or move on; gripper leads are a must to combat the tide; and finally a good strong rod tripod is an excellent investment. Both James and I are looking forward to more sessions and fishing through the seasons on the Bristol Channel.

Frustrating River Chew followed by Bristol Avon Perch

James and I spent many hours on lower River Chew searching for fish in the sedate flow on the float. James loved every minute using his whip he bagged up on Minnows to maggot on a size 16 hook. I am afraid the Minnows did not quite have me so captivated and I was frustrated not to see some variety - maybe the odd out of season trout or chub to break up the predictability but it wasn't to be. We moved to the Bristol Avon and I was happy to finish the day with a nice Perch on the fly, a red fur number that has served me well in the past. Heck of a lot of water coming down but clear enough to work a lure.

Another Chubtastic session on Somerset Frome

A misty morning across the Bristol Avon catchment and the rivers were in fine condition after copious amounts of rain and a short spell of settled, fairly dry weather. The levels were within normal but high with the colour just dropping. Not quite enough clarity to make the fly the obvious choice so if I needed an excuse to run the stick float through some of my favourite runs this was the time. James, my youngest, had brought his Christmas whip which was only really feasible in the back eddies of some of the biggest pools. To my surprise whilst I blanked for the first 20 minutes in the main flow James caught a lovely miniature Roach and Dace close to the bank. First swim then went quiet. After testing a few other swims trotting the stick we finally settled on a long straight run ending in a bend. It was approximately 6' even depth with steady flow.  It was not long before we got re-acquainted with one of the resident big Chub. After a head banging struggle and a couple of burrowing runs to the bank it was in the keepnet (James' Christmas present number two!). For the next couple of hours James and I literally bagged up netting at least a dozen good sized Chub between 2-4lb.

Usual tackle of 6lb fluro attached to size 6 hook and a generous cheese paste blob. In most circumstances a positive hook up would result for leaving the float to dive away for few seconds. An immediate strike would often return the bait in a moulded shape crushed by the larynx of the Chub but without fish. I left in disbelief of how this stretch of river can sustain such a density of large fish. My thoughts turned to new year planning and what great fun a focussed a session on the fly in the summer would be. It was also good to see a couple of other anglers on the bank during the Christmas break.

In praise of Chub on the Somerset Frome

Well I had checked the river levels in the morning and although high the rivers were falling. So I headed off to the lower Somerset Frome with Pike fly rod and back up float gear for Chub in hand. On arriving I could see the river was up and coloured unfishable from a fly or lure perspective. I reached for the stick float and put my faith in the Chub. The day was bright after a period of prolonged heavy rain. I set off for miles trying every back eddy on the stick float feeding each swim with liquidized bread. The current was racing through and I was conscious I needed to get my cheese paste to penetrate the depths. It was tough to start and I only had size 6 hooks so it was go big or go home. Lots of bites from smaller fish, I guessed they were Dace or possibly Roach, but I was not connecting. I had avoided the weir pools thinking the fast flowing water would not be the best in such conditions. This was a bad move as in the last hour I fished the tail of one of the biggest weir pools. The expanse of water was actually dissipating the flow and the float was running nicely at about 5' deep on the edge of the crease to the main channel. Within a few minutes first Chub of about 3lb was on the bank after a lunging fight with the fish breaking water several times. I caught four Chub all within the 2.5lb-3lb bracket on a generous lump of cheese paste and would have continued if I hadn't run out of bait. The Chub were in fine condition and I have to say this stretch of Avon Tributaries Somerset Frome is a cracking fishery.

Somerset Levels Piking

Blustery day on the levels with heavy showers and the odd sunny interval. The drains thankfully staying within their banks but only just. Trio today of  Red, my youngest James and I. Tough day at the office though with very little action. One small pike fell to the fly, a red rabbit fur fly with weighted fish head. The fish hit once but I did not connect and then took it second time as I covered the same area. James and Red were using lures and spinners but not a tug. We covered some ground but it just wasn't happening.

Winter Chub on the Somerset Frome

Having a young son who is keen to catch just about everything has inspired me to branch out with my fishing. Today we set out to catch Chub and have a little dabble at Pike on the fly if that wasn't successful. It has been a long time since I had prepped bait for the next day but I diligently liquidised some bread and made up a quick and easy cheese paste. The paste was effectively cheddar, a bit of the liquidised bread and some clover to bind. We headed to a lovely stretch of the Somerset Frome on the Avon and Tributaries ticket which I knew was frequented by Chub. First swim and a few handfuls of liquidised bread were thrown in. Literally second or third cast and the stick float slid away. After a lethargic struggle our first Chub was in the net and it was a fine fish of I would estimate over 3lbs. James was made up with such a large fish from what he called a shallow river. A few more casts with missed bites and we moved on.

Second swim slightly deeper and slower. Same method few handfuls of bread and let the stick float trot down with a size 6 hook and generous blob of cheese paste. Another clonking Chub in the net. We caught 4 decent sized fish one of which James did all the work on so it was so really rewarding for him on his little 8' Shakespeare all purpose rod.

After the bites dried up I made a few casts with the fly rod and tempted a Pike of 5lb from the bottom. Unfortunately it did not make it to the net and shook the single hook on the surface. We then moved locations and spent the dying hours of day in little mill pool run where James bagged a half a dozen smaller Chublets. He actually enjoyed this more than catching the big ones as it was quick fire instant reaction fishing. A great way to spend a dull miserable Saturday, anything but for us!

Mixing it up with Pike on the fly and a bit of drop shotting for Perch

Took my son canal fishing on a wet windy day. The worse rain all year constrained us to the canal. My first trip to this lovely lilliput canal with naturalised banks and no boat traffic. I set up with my usual pike fly gear while my youngest James had a light LRF rod with a selection of mini lures. It was the first time we had really tried this method. The light reel had 20lb braid with an 8lb fluro leader and Size 4 hook set about 9 inches above a small weight. When we got to the canal some parts were clear but there were large stretches where the nearby ploughed fields had run off muddying the water making it pretty unfishable in places.

I immediately hooked into a nice jack of about 5lb on the fly but failed to get to the bank. Shortly after that I banked, on the fly, a miniature beauty that looked at home in the mini chocolate box surroundings. My son James was beginning to get the hang of the drop shot patiently encouraging the Perch to feed under a small bridge. Ironically though his first fish banked was a Pike about 15" that took the tiny plastic. He then went on to catch several palm sized perch on the drop shot. Pink seemed to be the colour.

All in all I caught 3 small Pike and lost two bigger ones on the fly and James caught 4 Perch and a Pike on the drop shot. It was a brilliant call and made the most of the horrendous weather. It has whetted our appetite to try drop shotting nearer to home perhaps on some of the urban waterways.