River Fishing - For a starter

[itsfishingnotcatching]

I'll go even more "minimalistic", rod, landing net bait pouch and a few spare bits of end tackle, as Steph says, stay out of sight where possible and try as many swims as you can. Use a float where you can and freeline or use a small feeder where you can't. Only a month to go

 

[law]

I wasted a season fishing a stretch of river that looked like it held fish, only to find that they were so thin on the ground, no-one bothered fishing it.

Firstly, I'd make sure there are fish there. Get some polarised galssses and drop some bait in areas where you can see it. Sweetcorn is good for it as it's bright.
Go chuck a few handfulls in some of the slightly shallower areas and see what happens to it. It might be instant, it might take some hours.

On warmer days, get some floating crust in. I've had the chub on my local river coming up for surface baits for a few months now. It's a great way to suss out where they are.

Once you have worked out if the fish are there, as said, either trott your baits down if the bottom is clear, or feeder if the bottom isn't so clean.

 

[denzinho]

It looks fishy

---------- Post added at 20:15 ---------- Previous post was at 19:56 ----------

I wasted a season fishing a stretch of river that looked like it held fish, only to find that they were so thin on the ground, no-one bothered fishing it.

I had a similar experience on a side stream of a reservoir 2 years ago, Apparently full of trout. Didn't catch anything in 6 hours, long story short after some research and I found this "In 2011 the reservoir emptied following a long period without sustained rainfall. Staff from Bristol Water rescued the trout and transferred them to the nearby Chew Valley Lake".

From that point on I check places out.

 

[steve2]

Have you tried the river yet?
What section of the Roding did you take those photos? Looks to have a nice flow unlike the parts of the river I have fished.
When fishing small streams carry as little tackle as possible and don't stay in one place too long.
Just because the swim looks nice doesn't mean it contains fish.
Have fished this river for many years and without a doubt it fishes far better after a flood.

 

[hammer_jamie]

Under the m11 fly over if you know there? Really nice spot. Had 1 pike

Bought few new lures that I'm hoping to test out this weekend, So fingers crossed I can find the Perch

I defo need to find new spots elsewhere though that I can jump on a train to etc