March 8th and 9th D. Stour Throop

I was up at 4am having packed the car with all the gear the previous night. I was down to Throop to see if I could catch a few chub before the season end. There had been a frost during the night and as I headed down through the roads of Wiltshire and Hampshire the dial on the car showed the temperature getting lower and lower -5c was about the coldest it got, buurrrrrr!
I arrived in the car park at about 6.25 and already there were 3 cars there.

Spring is not far away

I loaded the tackle on my back and walked to Pig island and found the swims I wanted to fish already taken. I’m not too worried about this as there are plenty more available. I was soon down at school bridge and found a nice glide where I could trot a float through. The sun was bright and sky bright blue. It was going to difficult.
I used my 15ft Hardy Marksman float rod to trot the float through the swim. I was using a 4 bb avon style float size 18 hook and 2.5 lb hooklink.
I fed about 20 or so maggots through every other trot down.
Sure enough it was difficult and throughout the day I had 3 chub with 2 fish going just over 5lbs.
This didn’t compare to the previous days fishing on a swim just above me where someone had four over 6lbs and several 5lbers and 12 chub in total. What a catch.

What was worrying was that almost every swim was taken and moving around the fishery and fishing different swims was almost impossible. I think everyone’s thoughts were the same low clear water = big chub. I felt uncomfortable fishing like this as it seemed like match fishing.

After a good nights sleep I was again on the fishery at 6.30am and fished a swim on pig island. There I met Steve and an angler who I had met before Paul Martin. Paul had been very helpful a few years ago in showing me some good swims.

Paul told me that a guy had taken a good haul of three 6lb plus chub from my swim the previous day. I was’nt quite sure what to think of this. If they were there though my chances would be good. I firstly started to trot the swim but no joy and even with neoprene waders on the cold began to bit at my toes and legs. I changed to the feeder and moved to a swim on the opposite bank where I ledgered a short hooklink swim feeder with a single maggot on a size 18 hook. I didn’t fair too well for the day. Missing a couple of pulls and landing two chub of about 4lbs. Steve on the opposite bank land two 5lbers and lost 2 others. Paul on the other hand was having a red letter day he landed three 6lbers and two five pounders a 4lb and two 3lbers. All on the short hooklink swim feeder rig. Paul and I chatted for ages with him telling me he was fishing Chew for the pike the next day. Paul is a top angler who has many large barbel and chub to his credit. He showed me a session he had with Gary Newman on Throop that was in the Anglers Mail.

As I said Paul is a mind of info and idea’s and he is willing to share this too.

I should have stayed on until the end of the week, however with the number of anglers around and the competition for swims it was not ideal fishing. And since I had caught my 7lb 12oz that season plus many 6lbers the urgency was not there. So I decided to return home and fish the Bristol Avon for some of the bigger chub there and see if I could increase my pb from that river.