My! It was cold on Sunday morning...

It was really cold on Sunday morning at first light. I have never tried to fish in those sort of conditions before.

Ralph, you either need to get a good set of thermals and thermal boots or take my way out, go back in March, the break really renews my enthusiasm, i also add, try the river mate, the fish are usually more obliging in these conditions, nice blog, good luck mate.

fishplate42 said:

It was really cold on Sunday morning at first light. I have never tried to fish in those sort of conditions before....

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That'll teach ya!
Now ya know why many anglers don't bother doing early mornings in winter! mg: - and we're not even in the real winter yet! mg:

T'other year our local day-ticket water froze-up for 6 weeks - some days were crying out to be fished - but the day just didn't warm-up enough for a thaw before the chilly nights re-froze the lake! Same story on the canals - drop-shotting with an icy 'lid' on the Leeds&Liverpool - proved problematic!

Rivers - on the other hand - tend not to freeze-up - and can provide some of the best fishing of the year - had my PB Chub and Perch at the start of the year. Find yourself a river - for a bit of fun when it's too cold for sitting at a lake!

Tight Lines & Warm Toes :thumbs:

Good on yer for turning out.

Sunday was positively tropical by comparison to Saturday in these parts where we had snow and a gale force northerly to contend with and I can't remember feeling as cold as I did for an entire dawn 'til dusk session.

Or why I didn't change my day from Saturday to Sunday!

It was raw yesterday, I had a few hours luring on a nearby lake and was stood facing a very fierce cold wind that had me shivering even tho not as cold as sat/sunday.
The water was really clear and I was fearing the worst but a jerky retrieve on a shallow diving plug was rewarded with a hard take which sadly came adrift. I was left wondering if the unseen fish might have been a perch but with the take being pretty savage I consoled myself that in all likelihood my lure had been hit by a smallish pike.
Hopefully my day on the Trent tomorrow will be more fruitfull.

I tend to ignore lakes in the winter, in fact I don't fish them now until the close season.
A- they are better then, the first Crucians and tench start to stir and can only get better leading into April and May
B= you have to fish them for 3 months anyway, in fact I enjoy the break from rivers by then
C- the winter months are mainly only good for Chub and Roach, Roach are usually the smaller ones but there's always a chance of a decent Chub whatever the temperatures. And a bit of roving for Chub is just the ticket in cold weather.

There are Pike and Perch but I am not a big Pike fan, you may get the odd small Bream or Rudd but, you can get them in the river. Chub are the only really worthwhile fish in the very cold weather.
Just sitting all day by a bank is OK if you are really wrapped up well but it is not ideal and cold still creeps in. A little less clothing- light layers-good boots and socks- a pair of hand warmers, light gear, some cheese and bread, a good walk stopping now and then, lob a bit of cheese in or some bread in a likely roach hole, 10-30 min, move on.

One of my favorite winter walks was a small river, quarter of a mile beat, with a nice pub one end that does a nice sausage and onion pie and a very good pint. Stoked up with this winter fare and a nice walk back was very pleasant with a couple of nice Chub to boot and maybe one or two roach. I couldn't beat this.
Carp are another winter story on commercials but, I am not keen on it in the winter. I would still rather a wander along the river looking for a nice Chub, the carp can wait until the close season. Plenty of time to give them some attention then.

Good post mate, very true, the carp on the commies will bunch, a couple of good spots, the rest, forget it, rivers chub, grayling and company, that should be your target, wise decision to wait till March, big carp caught during the winter, few and far between, life is to short.

wanderer said:

Good post mate, very true, the carp on the commies will bunch, a couple of good spots, the rest, forget it, rivers chub, grayling and company, that should be your target, wise decision to wait till March, big carp caught during the winter, few and far between, life is to short.

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I forgot Grayling, definitely would be my top winter fish, Lady of the Stream i think they call them. Unfortunately I don't have them in my area but I have caught them , a lovely pretty fish. On fine tackle, a joy.
Carp I understand can be caught all year round but in the winter months , the lure of a nice few Chub or "Grayling" or even a few roach is greater for me, plenty of other better months to give carp some time I would say. However, I am a all round pleasure angler and fishing to the seasons, the weather, the species etc, whats most likely to give me a few fish means I can start out with some little confidence.

Ralph, Welcome to winter fishing, or it will be when it gets cold:wh
I tailor my expectations to suit.
More predator fishing.
More river fishing.
On stillwaters I scale down my tackle and am satisfied with small fish which can be satisfying when catching a number of them.
I have found one or two stillwaters that will produce roach and perch in very cold conditions. They have good depth.
Oh yes I use more maggot and worm than I would in summer.

You are fortunate in London that the Thames has many mud free towpaths.
Hope this helps. Tight lines.