28th Sept Back on the Bristol Avon

Well here I was returning to the Bristol Avon and it’s very average sized chub. It was a case of getting out and fishing combined with having a look at the river. With this in mind I decided to fish at Lacock. Here the chub are of a better average size but nothing like the D.Stour and H.Avon. True there some large fish of over 6lbs but you need to be very lucky to catch one. So having arrived at a leisurely 10am I found a friend Paddy fishing there. He said that it had been quite since I was last there and the river looked tired as it often does in late summer early autumn.

I baited a couple of swims with hemp and went for a walk around. I saw plenty of chub however no barbel. The river was low and clear and any fish would be hiding away under branches or weed.

I rotated the swims but nothing much was happening. So as the day progress towards evening I settled in a good swim, which had produced some good barbel and chub in the past.

The fishing was not great but I did manage a few chub the largest going 3lbs 4oz. Not large by anyone’s standards but they do fight. I was using boilies with a shortish hooklink

The Himalayan  balsam is a real problem on the Bristol Avon. Further upstream a fishing association is trying eradicate it. But here it grows wild and stops most other plant life. Christchurch AC in Hampshire are fighting the problem as well and they seem to be winning. They did provide the bee’s though with some nectar and kept me company during the inactive spells between the bites. One is my photo and the other, well it’s fantastic.