Losing my Touch?

The cold, cold weather that's dogged us this winter has finally gone away, and I would love to be able to tell you that the fishing has really picked up - but it hasn't. I've been out quite a few times this past week or two but haven't got a great deal to report. Where shall I start?

Bottom-Bouncing at Blith

First it was a two-day trip to Blithfield with Joe. Conditions were very poor with very low temperatures, little wind and a lake full of snowmelt and considering all that, it actually fished passably well. One or two real biggies came out, though not to us but we did manage a few doubles between us. Joe had fish to 13 pounds odd, that fish falling to a burt, his favourite lure on Blith, and I managed a few fish to 17lbs 11oz, our biggest of the session. The seventeen pounder was taken on a deep trolled "Big Curly" lure. They are good lures for trolling deep and slow since they are heavy, so they stay down and the tail is made of thin plastic so it continues to ripple even when the lure is hardly moving.

Colder Still up North
Next came a two-day trip to the lakes where I found the fishing to be very hard. There was still a lot of snow on the fells and of course as it melted it was finding its way into the lake. As a result the surface temperature had dropped to 3.9 degrees from the 5.3 degrees it was a fortnight earlier. This meant that for once, the lower levels of the lake would be warmer than the surface and not srprisingly, this had put the fish down very deep.

One the first day I fished all morning without a run so I decided to try something new and visit an area of the lake I hardly ever fish. That improved things a little and I picked up a few small pike to around nine pounds or so, two on deadbaits and one on a lure. The next day I went back to the same area and sat it out for the day. Most of the fish came late in the day but I did get six runs in all, one dropped, one missed and four fish landed. Three of the fish were over ten pounds with the biggest going 15lbs 12oz.

I though about staying for a third day but as I was starting to talk to myself quite a bit I thought it best for my sanity if I went home.

Not Having a Chew
Next came Chew Valley Reservoir and once again it was to be a two-day affair. Surprisingly this turned out to be the worst trip of the lot. Joe and I both blanked on the first day, in the company of many others and day two was little better. Joe got our only double - around eleven pounds and I had to make do with a solitary jack. I did hook something very much bigger on a float-trolled mackerel but it shed the hooks after a few seconds so I never got to find out how big it was.