day out on the river .....

This Sat im out to the bristol avon , loads of nice spots but a long walk from one end to the other around hour and half each way and can park only at the each end .

in 2 minds where to go trotting or ledgering after some chub or roach but got some liki bread , worms and mixed maggots .

top end been told only works with the float and the bottom ledgering only fished it once and caught from the weir pool but only roach and 1 little chub but above the weir .

where do chub tend to hide in the winter apart from slack water under hedged etc as looks a bit empty as died back , would i expect to see any in the weir pool ?

any advice welcome as new to river fishing , thanks

Best to do your own 'trial and error' to find out for yourself - it's much more rewarding and at least you'll know the answer will be truthful............

im thinking to go do a morning trotting on the top section and after lunch hop back in the van and go vist the lower weir pool for a few hours before light goes . But its alot of water to cover but i know i the feeder sections been told mainly bring up mainly bream roach and odd tench but thats in the summer .

can u trot with worms and punched bread ?

also whats the best shotting for a extremely slow river ?

associatedmatt said:

top end been told only works with the float and the bottom ledgering only

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id give every method a try in any n every spot, top or bottom!!!, just because "someone" said something dont make it gospel give it a go !!! any method might not have worked for "someone" on aany day, but, who's to say you cant try, if you blank , so what? if the fish dont like what you throw at them try again with other stuff, new way of fishing for you so just go n enjoy it

good point , ledgering for chub this time of year ? worm on hook and chopped worm in feeder or not bother with a feeder ?

associatedmatt said:

good point , ledgering for chub this time of year ? worm on hook and chopped worm in feeder or not bother with a feeder ?

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wouldnt know, not a chub expert, but im sure others here will have much info for you

Couple of points I've found fishing a relatively small stream this winter - possibly smaller the BA but I think the principles remain the same....

Trotting - really good idea for searching fish out, you get to cover way more water than you do with a feeder. So a great tactic for location. Personally, I really enjoy it as a method too, as you can travel really light - rod, net, maggots (I have a bait pouch with maggots plus spare shot, hooks and a disgorger round my waist). Fish a run for a few casts, if you get bites it's worth staying and putting a bit of effort in, but if nothing happens you just move on. To keep this simple, I would only use maggots - and keep my expectations pretty low. If I'm getting bites - from anything - that will do. Gradually over a few sessions, you'll build up a much better idea of the "hot spots" - and then you might want to try those areas with different methods (feeder etc.)

Depth - what I've been finding with the stream I'm fishing is that (unlike in the summer) if I can see the bottom then there won't be any fish. Whereas any of the deeper areas - say 3 foot plus - have a very much higher chance of holding fish. I think this is because water clarity is pretty high at the moment (cold weather + no rain = clear water) but this might be different where you are? Anywhere you find deeper water is worth investigating, and don't be afraid to tinker with the depth of the float. In some swims I'm literally changing it every cast, just to see what happens. Sometimes you'll find swims where the float will still go through, even though you can see the hook is hitting the bottom. This is usually a sign that the bottom is likely to be gravel - so if you've got deep water over a fairly clean gravel bed, that's an area worth spending a bit of time on.

For feeder fishing - liquidised bread in a small feeder with bread, worm or maggots on the hook should see you get bites. Again, don't be afraid to move around a bit. Whilst its certainly true that the fish aren't as well spread out as they would be in the summer, it's also the case that if you find them, there's plenty that will still feed (roach, chub, dace and perch are all realistic targets). I tend to cast out and count very slowly to 100. If I don't get a bite, i'll retrieve and cast in to the same spot and give it another go. Repeat one more time - if I haven't had a bite on that third cast, i'll start thinking about moving. Like you say, there's loads of nice looking spots, so best to keep trying. (Of course, if you get bites - fish it out!! See what happens - you might find a swim where you'll catch all day)

A few sessions fished mobile like this - with float or feeder - will give you a much better idea of where the fish may be. Then as you progress, you can start making better decisions about where to start the next time.

Good luck! As I said on another thread about fishing mojo, I love this time of year! Yes, they don't catch themselves - but the fish you do catch are a little harder earned and so also more rewarding. Tight lines, and let us know how you got on!

Thanks for that advice . As said been told the top section is normally float fished and is not too far from the van il think I carry both rods but if traveling a bit further on food il either go with feeder or float rod as just carry all in my hands made up . Least I know in the weir pool down lower end I can go and have a go on the feeder and the water is deep there too and fast and chances are pretty high to catch which may end up going down there for a couple hours after lunch


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---------- Post added at 02:43 ---------- Previous post was at 02:40 ----------

Oh the chap who told me the few tips used to be the secretary for the club and fished this river for years , so il take his advice while having a go on the feeder too but I bet in spring once wake up more be a bit easier on the slower stretches where people mainly feeder fish .

Should I shot the float with a bulk around 18" from hook and a few small dropper lower down or the bulk under the float ?


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Ask ten people about shotting patterns and you'll probably get 10 different replies! However, for water that's around 4 foot deep, the arrangement you've mentioned should be fine. I tend to just use a single dropper shot - generally a no 4 - about 6 inches from the hook.

If the water was deeper, I might back the bulk shot up a bit - lets say it's 6 foot deep, I'd have the bulk shot just over half way down and the dropper still 6 inches or so from the hook. I like the idea of the bait being able to move around down there, particularly if I hold the float back.