Countdown to river fishing
Right now all keen river anglers are on pins, wondering if excess rain will take water levels beyond the height where fishing becomes impracticable. Having waited for a tortuous three months while, for most of the time the rivers were in fine fettle, the big day looms, but under threat of too much water.
As if you didn’t know, the river season opens this Friday, 16th June.
I have friends who tackled up their river rods two weeks ago in readiness, and every time I’ve picked the phone up the talk has been of rivers and barbel, and ‘where are we going to open the season?’
New rods have been bought, pieced together and flexed in back gardens everywhere to test the action. Reels have been fitted, lines threaded through the rings and a bomb tied on, and while one angler has held the butt and tried to imagine he was attached to the fish of his dreams, the other has pulled on the bomb in every which way but loose in the attempt to simulate the struggles of a big fish. 
You can imagine the comments of anyone of that strange non-angling breed who may have been watching at the time: ‘Bloody fools, can’t catch anything so they have to pretend!’
Chub, and especially barbel, will be the target species this Friday. They’ve had a three month break and I should imagine they’ve missed us. They’ve had three months where no maggots and casters have been fed in by the gallon, where no juicy chunks of luncheon meat, handfuls of sweetcorn, and lumps of high protein paste have come their way. Three months when they’ve not been treated to such handsome meals, never been caught occasionally, never been handled with gentleness and respect, and never had their pictures taken, and been returned to feed again.
Closed Season
It’s been a long closed season for those who fish only rivers or choose not to fish stillwaters during that time. But it is they who will be the most enthusiastic and raring to go this Friday.
Or will they? It is hard to imagine anyone being more keen to get on the river on the 16th than me and my pals who have continued to fish on stillwaters right through since the rivers closed in mid-March.
And like many others we’ve had some brilliant fishing these past three months, catching bream to double figures, tench to over 7lb, and lots of other specimens of other species. 
It’s been a great three months for many anglers. Right now, the carp record almost literally hangs in the balance as the scales that weighed it are checked to see if the 56lb carp named ‘Two-tone’ is an ounce or two above or below the present record. Quite a number of other huge, 40lb plus carp, have been netted, numerous double-figure bream and tench. Big carp and cats from home and abroad, massive rainbow trout, and some enormous sea species.
There has been some heated and interesting debate about the closed season. About whether or not it should be reinstated, and especially if the closed season should be lifted on rivers. And both sides of the argument have made some extremely relevant points. It will be an argument that will rear its head all over again this time next year. And why not? It is only through passionate debate that we arrive at workable solutions to controversy.
FISHINGmagic.com
In that closed period, through angling’s quietest time of the year, FISHINGmagic was launched, and since then we have gone from strength to strength.
I have been amazed at how quickly we have grown through a period when the circulation of most angling publications dips dramatically, and wonder just how much more our membership will accelerate now that we are coming into the busiest time for angling.
Our success is down to our always-fresh content and the quality of that content. It is down to the fact that FISHINGmagic can be personalised to suit your own tastes in angling. It is down to our sponsors, Relum and Leisure Angling, who have provided top notch prizes for competitions.
Most of all though, it is down to you, the members of FISHINGmagic who help to keep the site rich and alive with news, features and reviews. So it’s a big thank you from all of us here at FISHINGmagic.
And if you thought it was good so far, watch this space. You aint seen nothing yet!
