PB Bream!

A Mill Dam Bream just under 3lb.

Well it's turning out to be fishing sessions of firsts. Last month, my first Brown Trout and this month my PB Bream, just shy of 3lb. I went to Mill Dam on 6 March, and although the sky was clear, the water was very cloudy and higher than usual. After just a few casts with good old reds, my float moved slowly across the water and then disappeared, and I was into a fish which turned out to be my only bite of the session. It didn't take long to land what felt like a dustbin lid, and there in my landing net was the biggest Bream I'd ever caught. I don't usually weigh fish, but I weighed it, and the scales showed just under 3lb. I continued to feed maggots and had regular knocks and saw fish activity, but I didn't get any more bites. I went home a happy Angler!

Over the weekend I bought two 'new' rods. Shown below: an Aqua Superb, Lee of Redditch three-section, 11ft cane rod that needs re-whipping. Plus, a two-section Japanese Kiraku cane spinning rod, originally in a long box with two more sections, accessories and could be used for fly fishing as the handle is adjustable.

Inspired by my PB Bream the week before, I went back to Mill Dam on 13 March. The water was still high but not as cloudy, and there were a few anglers set up when I arrived. Soon after, two council employees showed up and cut some tree branches damaged during Storm Doris. The result of this maintenance was a few large branches landed on the edge of the lake, no doubt frightening the fish...not a good start! The temperature was around 14 degrees, and the sun was warm on my back as I fished red maggots with my Redmayne & Todd bamboo and cane rod and Ambidex 2 reel. Another angler arrived, and soon after one of the anglers on the opposite bank landed a few small Rudd. We all fished on with few signs of fish, and around mid-afternoon I finally got a very shy bite and landed a Minnow! I fished a bit longer then decided I hadn't blanked and called it a day.

After blanking at Mill Dam - except for a Minnow - I decided to go for a day on the canal and on 17 March I headed to Stenson Bubble with my newly purchased Aqua Superb cane rod and Marco Cortesi centre pin reel. I set up at a spot I've fished successfully before and baited reds on the hook and loose feed. To begin with, there was a good flow on the canal and a slight breeze, so I trotted a quill float to get some practice. With some signs of fish but bites lacking, the wind picked up, and the flow slowed, so I changed to a waggler float. Still no bites, the fish activity ceased for a while, then it started to rain, the wind changed direction, the rain stopped and started again, and the wind changed direction yet again.

I tried some worms to tempt a Perch but still no bites. The worms were used up, so I went back to maggots and ended the session with a blank. Apart from the weather and not catching, I got some practice with the centre-pin reel, and it was a nice, quite spot to spend my day off.

Looking at my fishing 'to do' list for 2017, I decided to go Pike fishing on my next session, so on 26 March I headed to Stenson Bubble. I went below the lock, thinking this would be an ideal place to find a Pike or two. After setting up a Daiwa ledger rod with a Mitchell 410, I adjusted the Pike float with the double-hooked small dead Roach bait on the bottom. I sat back and waited; it didn't take long before there was fish activity, the float bobbing about and bubbles showing. I gently picked the rod up and waited for my inner Mr Crabtree to tell me to strike. A little more float movement and I struck and reeled in, hoping for a bite. Unfortunately, there wasn't a fish on the end of the line, and this occurred several times over the next few hours. I could see lots of fish activity all around; bubbles, fish darting about just under the surface and topping.

After some lunch, I had a go lure fishing with my 'new' 5ft Kiraku spinning rod with another recent purchase, a Black Pince. After trying a few different coloured jigs and spinners and not getting any takes, I went back to the Pike fishing. Watching the float and getting distracted slightly by passing boats and fish activity, I wished I'd brought a pint of maggots and float-fished for silvers! Following more activity from the Pike float and several fruitless strikes, I wondered if I was striking too early, but I was trying to find a good balance as I didn't want to deep-hook a Pike. I decided to call it a day and try another session. Even though I didn't catch, I'd had a good day, with temperatures reaching the mid-teens and the sun was warm on my back.

Stenson Bubble below the lock