Back in the Game after a Hiatus

After a few months of what I'd call a 'mental anomaly', and finishing my final exam on the 17th June, I received a kind invite from good friend and fellow blogger, Mark Erdwin, for a trip shortly after. As many people know, I took a step back from social media, due to mostly the flaws getting me down and the fact that I felt that in the last few months before exams I'd 'go for it'. This decision, I feel, has been one of my best decisions as a lot of strain I personally felt with social media has now vanished and I no longer feel resentful towards this. After brushing all the cobwebs off my gear and making sure it was all in order for some roving-style work, I journeyed up towards Mark and it was not long until we were going through the foliage towards a swim that Mark and I liked the look of. After seeing a few fish top, with Mark covering a more aggressive rise with a generous helping of breadflake, he was soon connected into his first fish of the day. This fish certainly seemed like it pulled back a bit, and the culprit was a stunning brassy chub, which was a fine start to the trip (3-1).

A nice fish to kick-start the trip

After putting this beauty back, I made my way slightly upstream and tried a little area above where Mark had his fish. I had an interesting pick up which needed to be struck, but unfortunately all I was to connect with was thin air. We ventured on downstream, battling through all the persistent foliage and I found myself in a very nice looking swim with a nice slack. I opted to try a nice chunk of flake and it was not long until my quiver tip sprung in to life, jolting as the bread got smashed. I struck and connected with a strong fish which, like Mark's, really went for the near-bank snags. After getting a good angle on the fish, Mark was kindly on hand to net the fish. This fish was also a nice looking chub and a really nice one to start the season on. At 4lb 1oz, it was a fantastic fish to start the season on.

A nice first chub of the season (4-1)

With this fish displaying clear spawning marks and Mark's fish being visibly hollow, it was explanatory on why the fishing wasn't straight forward. My fish also had tubercles on its gill plate, which explained why the chub were proving challenging to tempt. We continued on, managing some chublets, gudgeon and perch which was a nice way to top off the trip. It was nice to get out again, and I'm hoping to get out again a bit more this summer after some more chub, and potentially some barbel maybe later on in. Big thanks goes to Mark for the quality photos and being enjoyable company for the trip after my hiatus.

Tight Lines,

Tom Aldous