River Thames Sunday 9th August

After returning back from my honeymoon the week before I was itching to get out and get some fishing in, so it was after a healthy tesco breakfast, that we decided to swing by the tackle shop and get a couple of pints of maggots and spend a few hours drowning them down the thames.

We drove to a swim that we regularly fish for small stuff, but that swim was taken, so we drove to another area a few miles up the road, but being the weekend, everywhere was packed. It was then that we decided to fish a spot that we hadnt done before.
We had fished lures and wobbled deadbaits in the past there and caught pike, but nothing with maggots.

To be honest I wasnt expecting to catch much, its a small bit of water round the back of an island, with depths around 5 foot, the cabbage weed covering most of the bottom came up a couple of feet, plus its quite clear water. But with maggots and a few hours to kill I decided to give it ago anyway, beats being at home cleaning up, even if I dont catch anything!!

I set up a 3 mtr whip with 3lb mainline, 2.6lb hooklength, size 18 hook, and a small 3bb stick float set about two and a bit foot deep, so I was fishing over the top of the cabbages.
It was simple fishing really, 10-15 maggots each cast, flick the rig out and within a few seconds I was getting bites. From there on I was getting a bite a chuck, litterally.
I wasnt hooking fish every cast, but I would say I hooked about 1 in 4 bites, mostly resulting in bleak, then I started catching some nice dace, which were well over half a pound. A few perch, roach and a few more bleak and the swim went dead.
Knowing that there were a few pike in this bit of river I used claire's light lure rod aith a small mepps spinner and first cast through the middle of my swim I hooked a perch which looked about half a pound in the water, but that came adrift amoungst a swirl on the surface and it was gone!! I had several more casts which all resulted in nothing.

Switching back to the whip resulted in bites again and I continued to catch bleak and dace until we left.

Claire was very happy to finally get some action on her lure set up, which saw her hook, but lose, several perch. So Im sure she is desperate to get back there and see if she can land one or two of them!
I quite fancy the area for barbel and carp too, so I may well have a session there very soon, with some heavier gear, as although the area is behind an island, you can cast out into the main river a few swims down, so im sure it would be a good place to target them. Who knows, we shall see.


I also have a tip for a small stretch of river not far from me, that may contain some carp and a few barbel, so thats something else I need to look into as its virtually on my door step!!