Tuesday 6th September Dorset Stour

I arrived at 8am with the rain beating down and the forecast said it was going to be very windy and wet.

It was so windy I just could not sit under any willow trees for the fear of falling branches. Some did crack off during the day which vindicated my decision.

I met Brain the bailiff for Throop and he kindly cut away some branches in the swim I wanted to fish. He is a great source of information and is very knowledgeable about the river and what happens.

Well I fished for the morning without a pull. The umbrella’s ribs bent double a few times and running repairs had to be made and all in all it was difficult. I was the only angler fishing Throop by the sign of things.

I moved to another swim where I’ve caught lots of 6lb fish and the 7lbs 12oz chub last year. There was lots of weed and a very small gravel run. I baited with some hemp, however the only fish to turn up were a small shoal of bream. Throop has had no weed cutting this year and the river looked so much different from last year. The banks were hardly trodden with anglers boots, even the locals are not fishing it much, is this a story unfolding here!

Well I returned to the original swim and guess what at about 4.30 pm one of them there otters turned up in my swim and dived around a little, not at all scared of me.

Needless to say it was a while before I got a bite from anything. Disappointingly the only 2 fish I caught were small chub of a bout 2lbs each however it’s better than blanking.

Brain showed me the new Glens weir which looks good and the flow now runs directly down the middle of the river and will create a couple of nice swims either side.

So I finished at 8.30pm wet and wind swept and looking forward to my chicken and chips at Ringwood.