Fishing News

Finally fished at the footbridge at Oath after flooded lanes and river!

The day was calm, overcast and misty.

I fished the first swim below the footbridge on the roadside (SLAC) bank. The river had been run off by the Environment Agency down to a few inches below winter level and the banks opposite were very treacherous with silt from recent flooding.

I fished a 17 foot rod and a centrepin reel with a wire-stemmed Avon float.

I loosefed small balls of bread mash and fished either punched bread or breadflake on the hook.

I caught roach, rudd, skimmers and bleak and had about a couple of dozen fish in total.

I fished 50 yards downstream of the footbridge at Oath. There was sunshine to start with but it soon clouded over. The air temperature was around 10°C with a light breeze.

The river was above summer level, nice colour, about a foot of visibility and a steady walking pace.

I stayed on top of the bank and a 3 metre landing net handle was long enough to reach the water.

I started off with a 14 foot rod, a closed face reel and a wire-stemmed Avon float, fishing maggot on a size 18 hook and loose feeding maggots.

After trotting for over an hour, letting it run through at the pace of the river and then holding back and inching it through slowly, I still hadn't had so much as a chewed maggot.

So I set up a light feeder rod with a fixed spool reel, cage feeder and a size 14 hook.

With the feeder filled with mashed bread and breadflake on the hook, I cast in several different places without any indications.

Finally on the edge of the main flow, the tip pulled down a couple of times and I hooked and landed a nice roach of 6 oz.

20 minutes later I landed another roach of 13½ oz.

Apart from a few knocks and taps from smaller fish no other roach were forthcoming.

I fished upstream of the footbridge at Oath, about midway between the bridge and the gate. There was a fairly cold breeze in my face, starting with sunshine but clouding up at midday. The river was at low level and had lost a lot of colour since last week. Visibility was still about a foot and a nice steady walking pace.

There was a large bush overhanging the water, which holds chub and roach in the summer, in front of me on the opposite bank .

I started with a 14 foot rod and closed face reel with a waggler float, fished down the middle of the river. I fed a few small balls of bread mash mixed with dark groundbait and fished breadflake on the hook. I caught one nice roach but that was the only bite.

I then changed to a light feeder rod and fixed spool reel with a small cage feeder.

I filled the feeder with the same mixture of breadmash and groundbait and fished breadflake on the hook.

Casting to the same spot in the middle of the river, I had caught three nice roach in fairly quick succession. Then it went quiet and all I got were small vibrations of the quiver tip from small fish stripping the bread off the hook.

I fished the first swim upstream of the footbridge at Oath, opposite the two bushes.

It was a warm, calm sunny day. The river was a nice level, a green tinge to the water and a gentle flow.

I started by trotting a stick float with breadflake on the hook over loosefed pieces of mashed bread mixed with Gros Gardons groundbait. Unfortunately, just after I started fishing, a breeze started blowing across the river into my face and the float was continually blown into my bank.

So I put the float rod away and setup the feeder rod with a small cage feeder on a running rig.

I fished either breadflake or redworm on the hook with the mashed bread/groundbait mix in the feeder.

As you can see, I caught two nice roach, three small skimmers and a gudgeon.

There were plenty of bites but I think it was small fish and were difficult to hit.

I know some members aren't happy about the weed in our lake. However, the weed is very beneficial to our fish and the waterfowl. It contains lots of food in the form of invertebrates. It provides shelter and protection for our fish. It also helps to keep the algae levels down and improve water quality.

Most of our fishing can be done in front of the platforms so we only need to clear the weed from where we want to fish. This is easily achieved by spending a few minutes raking before we tackle up. This gives a short period for the swim to settle before fishing. Raking also stirs up the silt which attracts the fish into the swim.

A simple weed rake (as shown above) can be made by joining two garden rake heads back to back and securing with cable ties. A length of strong nylon rope can be securely attached.