3 bars of gold

Out for an evenings chub fishing, setting off later than I would of liked so I just headed to the one stretch instead of the planned two. Arriving at the river 30 minutes before dusk, I was in no rush to cast so I spent a good half hour flicking bait into the swim, hoping that the chub would gain confidence and compete for the bait.

I was expecting to get some interest fairly soon after casting and I did, a slow bite which immediately snagged me up! A quick re-tackle and the tip went round within a few minutes of casting, this fish was on longer than the first but not long enough to net, as the line parted just above the hook! I obviously didn’t strip enough line off after that first snag, lesson learnt and a good rod length of line was removed before setting up again.

I kept the bait trickling in as I was setting up and thankfully the fish hadn’t spooked and the tip went round within 2 mins of casting. I played the fish hard to avoid the snag which wasn’t there last time I fished this spot. A good 4lb plus chub was netted and sacked. Next cast even better, a probable 5lb fish from a very delicate bite.

After the second fish the cloud cover went, the temperature plummeted and unsurprisingly the chub switched off. Nothing happened whilst the sky was clear, the river was floodlit from the near full moon and it now seemed lifeless.

The air temperature must of dropped below zero as the net was solid and casting was becoming difficult with iced up quiver rings. Finally some cover returned and 20 minutes later I was into the third chub of the night.

5.03, 4.11 and 4.09lb and good evenings session including a new river best

I tried for another couple of hours but the freezing conditions had gotten the better of the river and my phone. The river seemed dead as was the camera flash on my phone, thinking the phone was broken I had a quick look online and apparently it’s a known problem with new iPhones. In cold weather the camera flash can fail to function, working again once the phone is warmer, not bad for a £750 phone !