With the river season drawing to an end, there are only a limited number of days left to enjoy the wonders of fishing in running water. The closed season is an enforced closure that used to cover all freshwaters. But now, thankfully, most water ways are open all year round.
The closed season was basically in place to protect spawning fish which is still just as important today. But the misguided limits to fishing probably had more to do with the gentry than the fish themselves.
The closure did give the riverbanks chance to recover back in the days when you needed to rise with the sun to get the spot you wanted. In modern times, rivers have taken a back seat as anglers prefer the comforts of commercials. The footfall is nowhere near that of the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, therefore the rivers are more overgrown now than they have ever been. Recovery of vegetation no longer holds water as an argument.
Some fish species are spawning now as I write in February. Dace and Perch spawn early in the year and other fish like Carp spawn well into July and beyond. They clearly haven’t read the calendar
But, like it or not, the closed season is almost upon us. At least for now…
I enjoy early fishing the river Frome early in the year. Nothing warms numb fingers like the Lady of the Stream, a shimmering silver Grayling with its large highly decorated dorsal fin and feisty nature. You may even cross swords with a Trout of some description or another. If you’re lucky, even a Salmon. But Grayling are the target species, and they are well worth the effort.
Personally, my trips are limited in length because of my home commitments. All day sessions are not possible in the winter. So, I consider myself lucky to live within a stone’s throw of a stretch of the Frome.
You don’t need much equipment either. It makes a welcome change to lugging half a tackle shop around as I seem to insist on doing these days.
I have a centrepin reel loaded with 6lb line, an old 13ft Drennan rod that is the granddaddy of all modern pellet waggler rods. It heralds from the days when a fishing was 13ft long and it would be madness to consider any other length! Soft in the tip but has a decent spine to stop enthusiastic fish from heading to Wareham…
I use a two-gram wire stemmed Avon float with BB’s, No.4’s, 6’s, and 8’s strung out down the line. Some like to use an Olivette lead or bulk the shots together. But this works well for me, and I don’t like to ‘fix what ain’t broke’…
I use a size 14 micro-barbed hook (because I can). It needs to be robust but not too heavy tied to a 5lb hooklink.
My favourite bait is sweetcorn. There’s something about it that the fish seem to love and it’s easy to spot the glowing yellow kernels as they zip downstream in the turbulent current.
You can use a normal fishing reel, there is nothing like using a centrepin for trotting a float down a fast river. I am late to the party as far as centrepins go, but I’m definitely a convert! They are certainly trickier to use than a fixed spool reel and mine probably gets cursed a couple of times during a session. But, once you have the hang of it, you can’t beat the control at the lightest touch of your thumb.
The only kicker is reeling in can take an age. ‘Twiddling’ the reel with your finger, or ‘batting’ the reel (spinning it with your fingers by almost hitting the reel to make it turn faster) will help.
A few runs down will tell you if you have the depth right or not. Keeping deepening the float until it drags under, then shallow up a tad. You may snag the odd weed, but it will be basically about right.
Feed a few grains of corn each cast to get them interested and be patient. You might not get a fish straight away, but they are in there. You can cover the same bit of river for 20-minutes before something triggers the fish to eat, and then it’s game on!
If any of this has whetted your appetite to have a go, I strongly advise that you do. The rivers are in a perfect condition right now and you could be a late convert like me…
Please take extra care when fishing on running waters…
I can’t promise anything but, if you do want to go, let me know and I’ll try to pop along to see you. If this is of interest to any of our juniors, I will try to factor it in for next year as part of the coaching program…
Tight Lines,
Juniors Sec…
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