Last Day On The River

Last day of the river season! A last-minute cancellation saw me scramble some gear together and get on the river for a few hours.

I was hoping for a nice and simple rod-and-line session, but it was a lot trickier than I expected. The cold wind was awkward, the bleak were ravenous and the bottom was covered in branches!

I started on the stick float as there was plenty of pace close in. This was good for some plump perch that looked ready for spawning, plus a few stamp roach. I then swapped to a waggler rod further out, but that proved really tricky, especially with the hungry bleak, so I got off my box and set a heavy 3g bolo rig up instead. This worked OK, but the snaggy bottom made dragging any line on the bottom impossible.

With an hour to go I got up and assembled a straight-lead rod and had some nice roach and perch on single and double caster, which is a tactic I’ve always enjoyed.

So, my initial one-rod plan turned into a four-rod-job, but I got a hard-earned catch at the end. Also reeled in enough branches to make my own tree, plus a PB watersnail and someone else’s pole rig. Standard stuff for me!Hope you all managed a good end to the river season!